Ranma and the Akanauts
by Tobias Drake
Summary: The loss of a loved one leads to a fantastic journey, that threatens to unwravel a conspiracy engrained deeply in the hearts of our heroes. Can what is lost truly be reclaimed? Or is this journey doomed to end in failure?
1. Chapter 1: It Began with a Murder

This story is VERY, VERY loosely based on the story of Rise of the Argonauts which, in turn, was VERY, VERY loosely based on the original Greek story of Jason and the Argonauts. So this story is based on Jason and the Argonauts only in the sense of having almost nothing to do with Jason and the Argonauts. HOORAY!

**Chapter One: It Began With a Murder**

A smell of death and horseweed drifted out the door to the Tendo kitchen, filling the family with dread. It was a night that would live in infamy, a night of horrors so unspeakable that even the courage of one Ranma Saotome found itself faltering. Truly, tonight would be a night of unimaginable evil, and not a soul around would be spared.

For tonight, it was Akane's turn to cook.

"Well, I tried," Nabiki offered the family, as she hung up the phone. "The Nekohanten's still closed down, and Shampoo's got everyone else scared to come near us. We are officially blackballed."

"What about Ucchan's?!" Ranma offered desperately.

"No luck. I think she's still upset about the incident with the noodles."

"That wasn't my fault! I thought it was a cat!"

"Either way," Nabiki looked Ranma dead in the eyes, "You're just going to have to take your poison."

"But I—"

"BOY," His father interjected. "It's time to be a man and swallow your swill like the rest of us!"

Ranma was about to argue, when the sound of his doom came bellowing out from the kitchen. "Okay, it's done!" Fear gripped the heart of the young martial artist, and he knew there would be no escape. Akane stepped out the door, carrying a tray full of pain coated in a thick, aromatic layer of malice. Ranma couldn't help but admit that she really was cute sometimes, especially the sweet, naïve smile she carried with her tray of death. But he also knew that beneath that cute and warm exterior lay a ferocious tiger, ready to pounce and tear his throat out at the first sign of trouble.

Shifting nervously in his seat, he swallowed hard and looked up to her. "It, um…it smells…really, really great," he offered.

"I'm glad to hear it. I worked really hard on this. I hope you like it." Setting the tray down at the table, Akane took her seat. A nervous tension filled the room, Ranma glaring at his own imminent demise while the rest of the family refused to budge. Soun pretended to be too distracted by his shogi game with the panda to notice there was food. Nabiki was on the phone, deliberately not looking at the table or its occupants. Kasumi, wisely, had taken the evening for herself, and was not home. She was the lucky one. "Well?!" Her voice took a crackling edge, that caught the whole family's attention. "I made enough for EVERYONE."

"What…what IS it?" Resting on the tray were several small, red bowls containing some horrid, yellow glop in the center. Ranma poked at it with a spoon, and he could swear the gelatinous mixture tried to pull it in.

"It's miso soup," Akane growled through bared teeth.

"Ranma," Soun didn't even turn from his game, "you should have the first go. Akane IS your fiancée." It was a game they played every night when Akane cooked, and Ranma knew it. First to try, first to cry, and Akane would be gone in a huff, sparing the family.

"Why do I hafta—" Ranma caught himself only a second too late, as Akane's hopeful smiled turned a venomous glare. Ranma could see her blue aura glowing lightly around her as she raged.

"If you don't want it, then you can STA—"

"Oh, WHERE AM I NOW?!"

Akane's rage was silenced by a cry of anguish from the yard. Immediately, she brightened up again. "Ryoga! Now THERE'S someone who can RESPECT good food, unlike SOME FAMILY I KNOW," she cast her hateful gaze across the room. Soun continued his game with the panda, both easily deflecting the blow with a shield of willful ignorance. Ranma only breathed a sigh of relief, that he wouldn't have to taste the foul slime.

"Ryoga! Ryoga, wait!" Akane was up and out the door, knowing that if Ryoga walked out the gate, it would be weeks, maybe even months before they saw him again. "Ryoga!"

Ranma breathed a sigh of relief, for having been spared the pain of—

"Wow, this is REALLY GOOD!" Ranma blinked. How did THAT happen so fast? Ryoga was in the door, at the table swallowing down a bowl of Akane's fell miso beast. As soon as the bowl was empty, he was grinning up at Akane. "Can I have some more?"

"Sure, Ryoga," Akane glared daggers into Ranma's heart. "You can have all you want. It's not like anyone else is eating it."

"Hey, it's not MY fault Ryoga can eat—" Ranma stopped himself, suddenly realizing where he was going. But by then, it was too late.

"Can eat WHAT?" Akane snarled.

Around the room, the whole family had turned to listen to this. Nabiki was covering the phone speaker with one hand, her attention on the horror about to unfold. Soun sat in abject terror, silently willing Ranma to be silent. Even the panda was shaking his head, thinking to himself, '_Don't do it, boy_.'

"…can eat...pig's slop?"

It was pandemonium in an instant. "FINE! IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY COOKING, YOU CAN EAT THIS!!!" The table was tossed, casting the tray and bowls across the room. Nabiki leapt from the couch to avoid the flight of the hellslime, while the panda and Soun covered their heads. In an instant, the table was brought back down on Ranma's head, crushing him to the floor. "I TRIED to do something NICE for you, and you act like THIS?! Ranma, YOU JERK!!!"

"Stupid uncute tomboy." Footsteps leading up the stairs told Ranma it was safe to come out, and the sound of sobs mixed with the gentle patter of tears hitting the wooden steps made him feel lower than Ryoga's sense of shame. It seemed like it was like this every week. Every week—

"RAAAANMAAA!!!" The table suddenly exploded in a burst of violence, as Ryoga's Bakusai Tenketsu shattered it in a spray of woodchips. "How DARE you treat Akane like that!"

It wasn't long until the boys were out the door at each other's throats. Soun sighed to himself. "He'll never learn."

********************

"STUPID RANMA. I HATE HIM!" Akane sobbed into her pillow. Deep down, she knew that wasn't true. He could be sweet, when the moment struck him. He could be noble, and he was definitely a gifted martial artist. "He's STILL a JERK! Stupid…" Looking up at her clock through tear-soaked eyes, Akane noted she'd been up here half an hour. The sounds of fighting were still going on outside, not that she cared. Ryoga could just kill Ranma for all she—

There's someone in the room. Just out the corner of her eye, she caught the presence of someone else. Anger immediately rippled through her body, whirling on the intruder, she—

"You? What are YOU doing in MY room?!"

The intruder didn't respond. Didn't speak a word. A punch suddenly lashed at her face, which she dodged to the side, blocking with her left wrist and falling out of bed and onto her feet with the skill of a martial artist. "DAD, RAN—" before she could get another word out, the attacker was through her defenses, wresting her right arm under the crook of their left and forcing her to the side, pulling the young Tendo offbalance before jamming a sharp, jagged piece of metal straight into her chest. Akane's voice choked out as the weapon pierced her body, and she suddenly found she couldn't move.

********************

"DAD, RAN—" Akane's voice echoed through the dojo. Soun, now lazing in the furo, was on his feet in an instant. Crashing through the door, he was down the hall and up the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him, but it was too late. The sound of glass breaking heralded Akane's departure from the house, and by the time he got to her room, the intruder was gone.

********************

"BAKUSAI TENKETSU!!!" Ranma dodged another finger, watching part of the Dojo's outer wall explode into chunks of cement. Falling down behind him, Ranma wrapped his right arm around Ryoga's neck, and pounded his left fist into the lost boy's spine a few dozen times in the space of a couple seconds. He knew from experience, it would take that kind of punishment to put his rival down, but—

"DAD, RAN—"

Both boys jerked up suddenly, their grievances lost in the sound of Akane's voice. "AKANE!" they spoke in unison, racing towards her room. Ranma leapt to the roof of the house and darted around to her window while Ryoga hopped up on what remained of the border wall, following suit. Ranma rounded the corner just in time to see Akane come crashing through her window, the glass shattering on her back and tearing gashes in her shirt before she skidded down the rafters and dropped to the ground. Ryoga was down quickly, catching Akane as she fell and setting her down gently in the grass.

Ranma dropped to the grass with Ryoga as the lost boy turned her over. "Is she okay?!" he demanded, but the answer was immediately obvious from the piece of jagged metal sticking out of chest. Triangular in shape, with three sides and a fourth as the base, the piece was as jet black and jagged in the middle, with a strange symbol pattern interlaid in green running down it. From the size of the spike's narrowing, it was likely embedded at least three or four inches into Akane. Blood stained her clothes around the point of entry, and consciousness had already abandoned her. "We need to get this out of her!" Ranma exclaimed as he grabbed at the jagged metal, but Ryoga stopped him.

"Trust me, if we take it out now, it might make it worse. She needs a doctor!" Ryoga had treated his own injuries a lot on his travels, and he knew quite a bit about it as a result. "If we take it out now, she'll bleed to death before she can get help. Ranma…."

"I'll take her." Scooping her up in his arms, he looked to Ryoga with a fierce gaze in his eyes. Both boys knew, if Ryoga tried to take Akane, she would die long before he ever found a hospital. Ranma hated to leave a fight, but Akane needed him more now. For just a moment, they could see themselves in each other's eyes, both reflecting the other's concern for Akane, before Ranma was gone, using the border wall as a stepping stone to get to the rooftops, and running as fast as his well-trained legs could carry him.

Ryoga was at the window immediately after Ranma took off, but it was much too late. The attacker was gone without a trace.

********************

Racing up the stairs, Nabiki found her father slumped down at Akane's window, Ryoga perched on the roof just outside. "What happened? Where's Akane?!" she demanded. Soun was nearly catatonic, tears welling in his eyes as he thought of what had transpired.

"Akane's hurt," Ryoga answered. "Ranma's taking her to a doctor."

"MY POOR AKANE!!!" Soun bawled, doubling over from grief. Nabiki swallowed hard, looking down at her feet for a few moments before looking back at Ryoga. "Is she…did she look like—"

"It looked pretty bad. She wasn't moving." An awkward silence fell between them, the only sound the pained sobs coming from the Tendo father. Nabiki took a deep breath, then swallowed. Another deep breath, and her composure was back.

"He probably took her to see Dr. Tofu. I'm sure she'll be fine," Nabiki said quietly. "She's a tough girl, and Tofu's a good doctor. She'll be okay."

"Can I…" Ryoga started, but then stopped a moment. He feared he might have intruded enough, but he couldn't walk away now. "Can I wait here? If I leave, I might not ever see her again. I have to know if she's okay."

"Come in, Ryoga," Nabiki answered.

********************

"DR. TOFU! DR. TOFU, IT'S AN EMERGENCY!!!" Panicking, Ranma kicked the door in and shouldered his way inside. The lights were out and there was no sign of anyone inside the waiting room, so he pushed his way into the emergency room. "DR. TOFU, WHERE ARE—"

"Ah, Ranma! What have—oh, dear kami, what HAPPENED?!" Coming out of the bathroom, Dr. Tofu blanched at the sight of Akane in Ranma's arms. "Put her down, gently!" As Ranma set her down on the table, Dr. Tofu went straight to work, examining the piece of metal sticking out of her chest. Taking a set of pliers, he slowly removed the weapon, taking great care not to cause any further damage. Ranma kicked himself mentally; if Ryoga hadn't stopped him, he would have just jerked the thing out.

Setting it aside, Tofu examined the wound. "It doesn't look too bad, but…something's wrong. Ranma, hand me my stethoscope."

"Uh…" Ranma looked at the tools on Tofu's wall.

"The thing for hearing heartbeats."

"Oh!" Ranma grabbed it off the wall, pushing it into Tofu's hands. Setting it to his ears, he pressed the end to Akane's chest.

"I can hear a pulse, but…it isn't strong. Ranma, I'm going to need some time. Can you wait outside?"

********************

It was twenty minutes before Dr. Tofu came back out. Ranma had called the family, and they had arrived only recently. Ryoga came with them, to make sure he didn't get lost trying to find it. Soun bawled his eyes out in the waiting room while Nabiki sat close to the door, watching for news. She tried not to show it, but real, powerful concern for her sister was plain on her face. Even the Ice Queen of Furinkan High couldn't disguise the fear that gripped her heart as she waited for word. Kasumi was still out, which was for the best; bringing Kasumi would have consigned Akane to death. And Genma, still a panda, curled on the floor by the door, watching the family fall apart.

Ryoga paced relentlessly while Ranma sat across from Nabiki, eying the door carefully. "Can you stop that?" He muttered to Ryoga. "You're going to turn around and be in China."

"Shut up, Ranma, I don't need this from you right now!"

"And I don't need to listen to your footsteps all night!"

"Just like you didn't listen to Akane when she cried out for help?!"

"You're one to talk, if you hadn't picked that stupid fight, maybe I could have gotten there faster!"

"Yeah?! Well, if YOU hadn't insulted her cooking and chased her upstairs, maybe she'd still be ALIVE!"

"ENOUGH!!!" The waiting room echoed with the voice of authority, as both the boys suddenly straightened their spines and turned. Nabiki's cold, steely gaze was locked on them both. "Akane doesn't need this right now. She needs all the support she can get, and if you two are just going to fight and bicker then GET OUT."

"We're sorry."

"Yeah, sorry," Ryoga took a seat next to the panda.

********************

Inside the emergency room, Dr. Tofu sat on a stool, next to the table on which Akane Tendo rest. His head heavy in his arms, his eyes every now and then glancing to the weapon, lying on a small tray to the side. He wasn't an EMT. He was a family doctor, and this was definitely outside his usual scope. He knew what to do, and he'd done it to the letter, but…

Even if Ranma had taken her to a hospital, he realized, it would have been too late. That…that THING was designed to kill. With what he'd just discovered, there were no two ways about it. With a deep breath and a heavy heart, he stood and headed for the door. This was always the hardest part of the being a doctor, stepping out the door and seeing the terrified faces of the family, some still full of hope, others only dreading the next minute.

"Dr. Tofu!" Soun was on his feet immediately. "Is she…is she going to be…."

"I'm sorry." Those two words were all he could muster, before the strength left him. But they were enough.

"No…no, she can't…." Soun sank to the floor, tears streaking down his face. "Not again. No, please, tell me there's a mistake. Don't do this to me again."

"That can't be!" Ranma screamed. "It was just a tiny piece of metal! YOU said it yourself, it didn't look that bad!"

Clearing his throat, Tofu spoke. "I found…there was a trace substance on the tip of the…." He swallowed hard, finding the courage to say it. "…the murder weapon." An uneasy silence fell upon the family, and he continued. "I believe it might be some kind of toxin. I'll need to study it more closely, but it looks like the tip of the weapon was designed to inject this substance into the victim. It'll take me a while to find a poison that acts this quickly, but I'm certain that the toxin, not the spike, is the cause of death."

"No…" Ranma covered his mouth, unable to believe what he was hearing. "No, you're wrong. You have to be. You're wrong!"

"RANMA!" Nabiki silenced him. He shot her a glare of hate, before he caught the look on her face. The Ice Queen had crumbled, and he could actually see the tears forming in her eyes. He softened immediately. "Not now. Please. Just…don't do this right now." Even her voice choked with the crack of swallowed teardrops, and he could tell she was fighting her hardest to keep from letting it show.

"I'm sorry." Two simple words. Two words that could have cleared up so many problems between him and Akane if he'd just learned how to say them. Two words that could have made everything right, maybe could have saved her life. "I'm so sorry." Feeling the warm nuzzle of the panda on his hand, his father trying what he could in his state to help, Ranma realized he couldn't be here. He couldn't do this in front of them. "I have to go…I'm sorry…I have to go."

"Ranma, wait!" Nabiki shouted, but he was gone, past Ryoga, catatonic on the floor, out the door and into the streets.

Ranma ran until he couldn't run any farther. He didn't know where he was going, and at this point, he didn't care. He just kept running for all his legs could give him. After ten minutes, he started to feel the drizzle of rain begin to fall, and as his curse took him, he couldn't find the strength to care. She found she actually wanted this; she could cry easier as a girl than she could as a man. Her father's "MANLY" training all but ensured it.

Slipping in a puddle as the rain came down, Ranma fell down an alley. She didn't have the strength to stand, so she just dragged herself down until her arms gave as well. Laying on her back, looking up at the rain falling down, she let the tears come and finally allowed herself to cry. "Akane…."

********************

"Well, isn't this something?" Ranma awoke to a start. He looked around desperately for the source of—wait, HE? He was a girl just a second ago. ….and now that he thought about it, he was certain he'd been wearing clothes.

He found himself floating in an empty void, illuminated only by a handful of colorful lights. A red, a blue, a green, and a yellow light all flickered around him. Before he could try to find an understanding, they spoke again. The yellow light flickering as a soft, male voice echoed. "It isn't his fault. He's in love. You can excuse a moment of compassion."

The red responded, a deep, burly voice. "Call it what it is: a moment of WEAKNESS. And I'll decide what I can excuse."

"Guys," a high, erratic voice interrupted from the green light. "I think he's awake!"

"What…where am I?"

"You have been done a grave injustice, Ranma Saotome." This time, the voice came from the blue light, and it had a firm, yet decidedly feminine quality to it.

"What occurred tonight was a terrible tragedy," the yellow light agreed.

Ranma blinked, as the lights buzzed closer. "Who are you?"

"That is not your concern," the red responded.

"Well, not YET," the green corrected. "We've been watching you, and we're VERY curious to see where you go from here."

"What do you mean, WATCHING me?!" Ranma demanded. "Who ARE you?!"

"What matters now is this," the blue started. "Something very terrible has happened here tonight. It seems the fate of great men to begin their journey with great tragedy. But do not allow yourself to sink into despair, Ranma Saotome. What is done can always be undone, so long as IT exists."

"Wait, what are you talking about? Undone? What can…you don't mean…."

The yellow flickered directly into his face to answer. "If you seek answers, Ranma Saotome, then seek the Island of Delphi. There, you will find all that you require, but be forewarned: what you discover may not be what you ever wanted to learn."

"What…I don't understand. What island? What are you talking about?!"

"The island," the green explained, "exists only for those who seek it. Follow your heart and it will guide you to Delphi. Or rot away here and always wonder!"

"Wonder what?"

It was the yellow's turn again. "If you could have saved her." Those words pierced Ranma's heart, and suddenly the lights had his full attention. The yellow continued. "Go to the Island of Delphi, and seek the Oracle of Apollo. She will have the answers to your questions."

"And the questions to your answers," the green piped in.

As the void faded, Ranma panicked. "Wait! Don't go! I still have questions! Who are you?! How do I get to the island?!" She was back, lying in the alley in the rain. "AND WHO THE HECK IS APOLLO?!"


	2. Chapter 2: Bitter Memories

**Chapter Two: Bitter Memories**

DUNT DUNT DUNT

"We're closed!" was the only attention Ukyo paid to the rapping on the door, before she resumed scrubbing okonomiyaki batter off her spatula. She couldn't believe Ranma actually had the nerve to have Nabiki call her shop only two days after what she had come to refer to as the Noodle Incident. Fuming, she scrubbed harder, grinding the sponge against—

DUNT DUNT DUNT

"I SAID we're CLOSED!" she called back. Frustrated, she turned her focus back to the—

DUNT DUNT DUNT

"FINE" Storming out from the sink and to the doors, Ukyo worked the locks before throwing open the sliding paper doors, ready to—

"Hey." She wasn't sure what she expected to see, but this certainly wasn't it. Standing out in the pouring rain was Nabiki Tendo, her eyes bloodshot and raw. If she didn't know better, Ukyo would swear she'd been crying, but that was silly; Nabiki Tendo doesn't cry, she's a cold, unfeeling businesswoman. Compounding the strangeness, standing behind Nabiki was her father, with one arm around the neck of the panda she knew to be Genma Saotome, the father of her fiancé. The Tendo father looked like he could barely stand and he was definitely crying, even now.

"Um…hi," Ukyo responded. "Come on in, I'll see if I can find some towels you can use to dry off."

"Thanks." Nabiki stepped in after Ukyo, while the panda helped Soun over the threshold. After the panda had set Soun down on the stool by the counter, Nabiki took a seat for herself. Milling over what she was going to say, she looked up only to find Ukyo hadn't left yet; she was studying her face carefully.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," was all Nabiki could muster. Clearing her throat before looking back to Ukyo, she sighed. "Can we stay here tonight? We can't go home."

"Huh? Did something happen?" Panic filled Ukyo's voice. "Did something happen to Ranchan?! Is he okay?! Did he—"

"He's fine," Nabiki interrupted. "He's…he's fine. Look, I'll give you 5,000 yen to let us stay here tonight."

"It's…" Ukyo was a little taken aback by the strange sight. "It's okay. You don't have to pay me anything. Are Ranchan and your sisters coming too?"

"Kasumi!" Soun shot up from his stool suddenly, at the mention of Nabiki's sisters. "I have to go. I have to find Kasumi!"

"Daddy, you're not—"

"She could come home at any moment! If whoever did this is still in the house…." He didn't even need to finish that sentence.

Trying to play the peacemaker, Ukyo held her hands out, comfortingly. "Maybe when she figures out no one's there, she'll come find you."

"That's not good enough!" Soun exclaimed, fear quickly inciting him to action. "I've lost one daughter tonight, I will NOT lose a second!" He was gone before another word could be said on the subject, hurrying home to find Kasumi.

Ukyo was stunned. Did he just say…. "Akane. Is Akane…did something happen to…." The empty silence in the room said all that needed to. Nabiki returned her gaze to her hands, while the panda milled about by the door, watching Soun race off. "I'm…I don't know what to say. Is she okay? Is—"

"I'll give you 5,000 yen to let us stay," Nabiki repeated. "And you'll accept it."

"Oh no…I…I'm so sorry…." Swallowing hard, she cleared her throat, then took a seat on the stool around the corner from Nabiki. "Alright. 5,000 yen." She didn't know Nabiki well, but she knew her enough to understand. Whatever had happened tonight had made the girl feel vulnerable, and she hated that feeling. She didn't want pity or charity. It would make her feel better, allow her to set her mind to ease, if she could make tonight a business transaction, and not an act of mercy. Then, she wouldn't feel indebted to anyone. "I'll…go put some hot water on, for Mr. Saotome."

Nabiki, for her part, had taken to looking out the door, still open after Soun had left in a hurry. The rain fell harder just outside, and watching it took her back to memories best left buried. After all, it had rained that night too.

********************

"Can't catch me!"

"Just you wait, Kasumi!"

"Hey! Wait for me!"

The sounds of laughter filled the yard of the Tendo residence, as three little girls chased each other around the koi pond. Their father looked on, wistful. There was a youthful energy to him Nabiki hadn't seen in years. He was a man of strength and upstanding character, who spent his days simply taking in the quiet when he didn't have his classes to teach.

Overhead, the skies were dark with the presence of rainclouds, but not a drop had spilled yet. From time to time, the crackle of thunder could be heard, but the girls were too busy to notice. At the moment, all Nabiki was concerned about was catching Kasumi. A game of tag that began upstairs had quickly moved in and out of the dojo and to the open yard. Akane was still too little, but she ran the hardest her little legs could carry her, having too much fun being included to notice she wasn't really in the game.

"Got you!" Nabiki shouted as she tackled her older sister to the ground. "You're it!"

"Girls! It's time for breakfast!" The softest voice carried out to the koi pond, and the three sisters looked up instantly.

"But mom!" Kasumi interjected.

"We were having fun!" Nabiki protested.

"Come now, girls," their mother stepped out from the kitchen, a look of mock sternness on her face. "You can play your game after—" She stepped back suddenly, caught up in a coughing fit, one hand covering her mouth as she doubled over.

"Kimiko!" Soun was on his feet in an instant, bracing his wife to keep her from falling. She had taken ill a week ago, and her condition seemed to be worsening.

"Mom!" The girls cried in unison, running to their mother.

"I…I'm okay…" With a deep breath, Kimiko looked back to her family, finding her footing again with her husband's help. "Come on," she gave her children a weak smile. "It's time for breakfast. You can play some more after, but don't run off. It looks like it's going to rain."

********************

"Here." Nabiki was vaguely aware of Ukyo offering a kettle of hot water to the panda. "What happened tonight? How bad was it?"

The panda responded, holding up a sign: '_There was an attack at the dojo.'_ He followed this with another sign: '_We heard a scream from upstairs.'_

As the panda began writing another sign, Ukyo shouted at him, "JUST USE THE HOT WATER, ALREADY!"

One quick transformation and a change of clothes later, Genma was seated at the counter, facing Ukyo. "There was an attack at the Tendos. We're still not sure who's responsible, but Akane was attacked."

Ukyo nodded, slowly. "I gathered that much."

"Akane…." Genma swallowed hard, then took a deep breath. "She didn't make it. My son was able to get her to medical help, but it was too late. "

"Oh…oh no…" Ukyo covered her hand with her mouth. "Ranchan must be…where is he?"

"We don't know," Genma shook his head, sadly. "He ran out when he heard the news. He could be anywhere."

"He could be in trouble!" Ukyo stood suddenly, panicked.

"My boy knows how to take care of himself," Genma assured her. "He'll be okay. I'm sure he's—"

"Ukyo." Nabiki spoke for the first time since the deal had been made.

"Yes?" Ukyo rose from her stool.

"I'm…very tired. I think I need to lie down." Her voice was cold and devoid of emotion, and hearing it chilled Ukyo to the bone. There was a faint sense of malice in it, not towards Ukyo, but towards…someone. Someone she didn't know, someone she didn't think even Nabiki was sure of. She had never seen the mercenary Tendo like this before; almost vulnerable beneath the closed and hostile exterior.

"Okay. I'll take you to the guest room."

Nabiki only nodded, and pulled herself to her feet. Her legs felt suddenly weak as she righted herself, bracing with one hand on the counter. Refusing to let her face show any hint of the grief that was playing through her heart, she only followed Ukyo in silence.

********************

Holding her bag up as she stepped through the gate of the Tendo residence, Kasumi could feel an ill favor blow through, like ice on the wind. Looking at the house, something felt wrong, but she couldn't place her finger on it. Slipping her shoes off as she crossed the threshold, she stepped first into the kitchen to set down her bag. It was late, she knew, but the whole house was quiet, and something about the silence felt overpowering.

"Father? Nabiki?" She called out into the dark. Stepping out of the kitchen, she strolled into the living area. An unfinished game of Go sat overturned on the floor, as though someone had left in a great hurry. The lights were off and the television was silent, but the remote lay strewn about the floor, and no one had taken bother to pick it up.

A small chill ran down her spine as she turned into the hallway leading to the furo. The light from the furo was still on and the door wide open, but no steam or heat could be felt from it. She entered the room, and saw the furo still full with water. Dipping her hand in it, she felt the water had long since gone cold. Whoever had been in here had abandoned it in a hurry. Rising back to her feet, she—

Wait. There was someone behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the presence of someone else in the room with her. She had stopped practicing martial arts; she was helpless in a fight! Terror struck her veins as she whirled around, looking frantically for a—

"KASUMI!!!" Her father all but tackled her, crying loudly as he wrapped his arms around her and held her to him. "YOU'RE OKAY!!!"

"Father?" Kasumi blinked a couple times, in surprise. "Are you okay? What happened here? Why is the furo still full?"

"I will explain everything, Kasumi, but we must leave now. This place is not safe." Soun urged his eldest daughter. "We're staying with Ranma's friend, Ukyo, for the night. Tomorrow, Saotome and I will do a thorough inspection to make sure it's okay to come back, but for right now, we have to go." The mixture of fear and pain in her father's voice made Kasumi's heart stop; something HAD happened tonight, she was sure of it. And whatever it was, it had done a number on him.

"Okay, father," Kasumi conceded.

"Good!" Ushering her out the door, in a rush to be gone from this place, Soun thought to himself. How was he going to explain?

********************

The night was terse and fitful. Try as she might, Nabiki just couldn't get solid rest. Every time she closed her eyes, the memories kept coming back; memories of that day, the day that her entire life changed. It had started to rain around noon, forcing the girls to move their practice back into the Dojo. Their father was running them through the basics, while their mother was in the kitchen, cleaning dishes from a wonderful lunch.

"HIYA!" The girls cried in unison, with the highest kicks they could manage. Kasumi's nearly reached her shoulder, while Nabiki's was still lagging. Akane, still so little, barely got her leg up to her waist. She tried so hard, she just didn't have the body for it. This did nothing to dull her excitement for the practice, though. She was always eager to learn.

"YAH YAH!" A right cross, wrist twisting as their fists went through the air, followed by a quick snapback into a left punch. "HIYA!" A side kick, out to their left. "YAH YAH HIYAH!" Two more punches, then a quick roundhouse, which left Kasumi standing confidently in place at the end, Nabiki a little off-balance, and threw Akane to the floor. As Akane pulled herself back to her feet, their father looked in and smiled. Sliding the door open, he called back to the house. "Kimiko, come see! I think the girls have finally grasped the beginner's kata!"

An ill silence drifted out from the house. At first, Soun thought that she simply hadn't heard him over the roar of the faucet, so he tried again. "Kimiko!" His voice obviously couldn't reach far enough, so he looked to his children. "You girls stay here. I'm going to get your mother. She'll be so proud of you!"

An uneasy chill fell over the girls. Akane kept practicing, but Nabiki was worried. And judging by the way Kasumi's stance began to slip, she must have been as well. It was less than a minute, before they heard their father's voice, this time awash with terror. "KIMIKO!!!" At this, the girls took off. Nabiki trailed right behind Kasumi, and they both found their mother lying facedown in the kitchen, her kimono draped loosely over her with her father frantically feeling his hands around her neck for a pulse. "Kasumi, call the doctor," he threw at them as soon as they were in the kitchen. "Nabiki, get some ice. Hurry!"

********************

Racing over the rooftops, Ranma headed quickly towards Ucchan's. She'd been seated under the window outside the furo when Soun had found Kasumi, and she'd heard where they were staying. Even the torrentious downpour wouldn't hold her back. Pain and grief had subsided to anger and determination with the mysterious visit of the rainbow lights. She was going to find Akane's killer, she was going to find whatever this mystery of Delphi was that would let him save Akane, and she was going to make everything right. When Ranma Saotome sets her mind to something, no force on this earth can stop her. This, she knew.

Leaping from one roof to the next, she spied Ucchan's in the distance. There was something he needed there. Hurdling a chimney before leaping another gap, Ranma dropped down with a splash in a puddle, just under the balcony of a home, and crept around to the side of Ucchan's. She didn't want to go in the front; Ukyo would be there, and if she'd heard what happened, she would certainly try to comfort her. She couldn't deal with that right now. She had to stay focused, stay angry, and get this done.

TINK TINK TINK

Knocking lightly on the window of the guest room, Ranma listened for a response within. With any luck, the person she was looking for wouldn't be up front socializing. She knew her well enough to know that she'd probably retreated from the conversation, distancing herself emotionally from the rest of the family.

TINK TINK TINK

"Come on, Nabiki." Either she wasn't in there, or she was ignoring her. Placing her fingertips on the glass, Ranma started to slide the window open and hoisted herself onto it, perching acrobatically just on the sill. Sure enough, Nabiki was inside, sound asleep at a desk. Letting herself down, she stepped lightly over to where she rested; it looked like she had been writing something when she dropped out. Curious, she picked her arm up lightly, and—

"Ranma." Ranma jumped about two feet when he heard his name. Nabiki's bloodshot eyes were open, and she could immediately see how red and swollen they were. Lifting her head from the desk, she scowled at her. "What do you want, Ranma?" Her voice was even colder than usual, and there was a hint of malice that the young Saotome had never heard from her before, mixed with a touch of impatience lingering in it. Did she blame him for what happened to Akane? WAS it Ranma's fault, somehow? She shook that thought off quickly; she couldn't afford to despair. Akane needed her to be strong.

"I need your help," he offered bluntly.

Nabiki's glare tore daggers through Ranma's soul. "I lost my sister tonight, Ranma. I'm really not in the mood for this."

"Nabiki, please. Just listen to me—"

"Give me one reason not to push you back out the window you came through, Ranma. Whatever stunt you're pulling—"

"I can save her." That caught Nabiki's attention.

"She's not in trouble, Ranma. She's D-…" A look of pain briefly betrayed the emotions in her heart, before she shook it off. "She's gone, and there's nothing you can do to change that, no matter how much I wish there was. People don't just come back because the great Ranma Saotome decided he wasn't done with them!" She was getting aggressive now. Ranma's words had plucked at her heartstrings and for just a second, she'd allowed herself to hope, before reality crushed it back down. And now, she was even angrier than she'd been before.

"What is done can always be undone, so long as it exists," Ranma recited.

Nabiki blinked. "What? So long as WHAT exists?"

"I don't know," Ranma admitted. "That's why I need your help." Sighing, he seated himself on the floor, ready for the long explanation. "I met some…thing tonight. I don't know what. It told me that it was possible to save Akane, but I need to get to the 'Island of Delphi', wherever that is. Supposedly, there's someone called Apollo that I'm supposed to meet there. I don't even really know where to begin looking. They said it 'only exists for those who need it', and to 'follow my heart', which wasn't a whole lot of help."

Nabiki stared at her for several seconds. Was she serious with all this? "So. You need me to find out where this place is."

"I need more than that," Ranma admitted. "Look, from the way they were talking, it probably won't be as easy as just looking at a map and swimming across the ocean. This magic island might not even exist. Probably doesn't. And I don't really like the idea of swimming aimlessly around the ocean without any clear idea of where I'm going. It could be months before I find this place, if I ever even do." She sighed, knowing she was about to test Nabiki's patience, but she took a deep breath and bullied through. "I need a boat."

"A boat," Nabiki repeated.

"Yeah, one with all those nifty gizmos that tell you where you are and where you're going. Some idea of what I'm looking for would help too."

"Sure, Ranma," Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Let me just call up the government and get a big warship ready for you. Would you like air support while I'm at it? I'll get you an aircraft carrier, and you can send people off by plane to look for your magic island!"

Not entirely certain if she was joking or not, Ranma decided to test the waters. "…no, I just need the boat…."

"Look, Ranma. I know I'm good. I know I've got quite a bit of a nest egg put together already. I know that I've already found plenty of ways of taking your money, and any time anything happens at our school, I'm right there to profit off it. But I'm not the local yakuza leader. I don't have secret contacts in the government that I can just call in favors from. I'm in HIGH SCHOOL, Ranma, and I don't even know where to BEGIN finding you anything bigger than some two-bit fishing boat that won't last two weeks where you're trying to go! I can't just snap my fingers and have a fully stocked naval battle cruiser ready to go tomorrow morning!"

"Yeah, but…you're Nabiki. You're the only shot I've got at this."

"This place doesn't even exist, Ranma. Why are you so willing to throw yourself into this when you and I both know it's pointless?"

"Because it's Akane," Ranma replied earnestly. That answer took Nabiki aback for a second. "Maybe you're right, Nabiki. Maybe I'm chasing faerie tales. But if this island is real, and there really is a chance at saving her, then I have to try. I don't want to spend the rest of my life looking back on this moment and wondering if I could have DONE something, if I could have changed everything if I just had the courage to do something!" The strength of Ranma's conviction surprised Nabiki, and threatened to shake her out of the gloom she'd been in since the hospital. "I'm going to save her, Nabiki, and if anyone tries to stop me, I'll beat them, because that's what I do! This is a challenge, and Ranma Saotome NEVER loses a challenge!"

A tense silence filled the air before Nabiki spoke again. "Alright, Ranma. I'll help you. I don't know what I can do, but I'll try. However…there is the matter of my commission," locking her eyes on her.

Ranma was shocked at the words coming out of the middle Tendo's mouth. "You can't be serious." She eyed her face carefully, looking for any sign that she was joking, but any hint of Nabiki's emotion had since faded into the predatory mask of the Ice Queen. "You're actually going to charge me for…this is your SISTER, Nabiki! I'm talking about SAVING YOUR SISTER!"

"Everything comes with a price, Ranma," was all Nabiki gave her.

"FINE!" Ranma shouted. "I'll pay whatever you want, I'll give you ALL my money, I DON'T CARE! I can't believe you would even THINK about making a profit off this! I actually thought even YOU might have SOME shred of—"

"THIS, Ranma, is my price," Nabiki interrupted. "I'll help you do this. I'll see what I can dig up on Delphi. I've got people that can look into it. And I'll try to find you a ship, but I can't make any promises to how long it will take. But in return, I'm going with you."

"…huh?" Ranma blinked.

"Someone killed my sister tonight, Ranma. Yes, I've used her AND you for my own profit, but I have ALWAYS tried to push you two together. I wanted nothing but the best for her. She's my baby sister, and maybe I'm not so good at showing it, but I DO care about her and I want to see her happy. Do I believe in your magic faerie island? No. To be perfectly honest, I think it's a wild goose chase and you're wasting your time when you should be out finding Akane's killer. But…" She sighed, trying to find the words. "I know you. I know you, Ranma, and I know that you won't stop until you find whoever did this. One way or another, you're going to hunt this guy down to the ends of the earth and you're going to stop him, because that's what Ranma Saotome does when people he loves are attacked. And I'm going to be there when you do. That's my commission."

Nabiki's eyes were still as cold and unfeeling as he had ever seen them, but there was something different in her voice. A vulnerability Ranma never heard before, when she spoke of Akane.

Well, no, that's not entirely true, she realized. She HAD heard this tone from her once before, the day his mother showed up at the dojo. She attacked him for not going out and being with his mother. She had told him, 'Your mother is sitting in our living room but you don't want to see her. Well, Ranma, I've got a little secret for you. There are two people in this room that no matter how hard they wish, can NEVER see their mother again. I'm not gonna try to make a profit off this. Just…talk to her while she's still around.'

"Nabiki," Ranma softened. "I can't…I mean, this might be dangerous, and you're not exactly a fighter. I don't want to put you in—"

"Ranma, I'm not saying I'm going to start boxing Ryoga when he pops up to kick your face in. I'm not a fighter. You don't have to tell me that. I quit practicing martial arts a long time ago. I'm not Akane, and I don't intent to pick stupid fights with dangerous martial artists I can't even hope to beat. But you NEED me. If this stupid magic island of yours turns out to be real, it's going to take more than just kicking people in the face to save Akane and, let's face it…you're not really that bright."

"Hey!" Ranma was back on her feet. "Y'know, I figured out the Hiryu Shoten Ha for myself, and I invented the Moko Takabisha, and—"

"Yes, Ranma, when it comes to martial arts, you're a tactical genius," Nabiki admitted. "But at even a basic level of common sense, you fall apart, and you have no ability whatsoever to actually think things through before you do them. Believe me, I've made a tidy profit off this fact."

Ranma fell silent, considering Nabiki's words. It's true, a lot of the problems she had gotten herself into over the years could probably have been avoided if she'd just taken the time to really consider what she was doing. Cheerleading for Kuno was an example that really stuck out in her head for putting her pride ahead of any sense of logic.

"That's the offer, Ranma," Nabiki broke the quiet. "Take it or leave it. But one way or another, this doesn't happen without me."

"Alright," Ranma finally acquiesced.

"Good," Nabiki continued, "but not quite enough. I want your word on this, Ranma. I know you. You won't break a vow of honor. Give me your word, as a man, that you will not leave me behind."

Ranma looked down at her hands. Reluctantly, she spoke. "You have my word."

"I have your word what?"

"I won't leave you behind."

"Now, say it all together, in one sentence."

Ranma moped. She thought she could clever her way out of this with a loophole, but Nabiki saw right through it. Sighing, she gave in. "I give you my word, I will not leave you behind."

"Good. Now…" Sitting back in her chair, Nabiki felt inspiration strike her. The gloom had lifted, just enough. "I'm tired, Ranma. I'm turning in. Go…do whatever you do now. I already have some thoughts about who I can talk to tomorrow. With any luck, I might be able to get us a ship by the end of the week. But Ranma?" She looked her dead in the eyes, making sure to emphasize her point. "Everything has a price. Everything. And as you've just seen, it's not always money. I do have an idea, but you're not going to like it. I hope you're ready for that."

"I'm ready for anything," Ranma insisted.

"Good." Standing up, Nabiki strode over towards the bed, then stopped and glared at Ranma. "Good night, Ranma."

"…um, good night?"

Her voice tensed as she tried again. "GOOD NIGHT, Ranma."

"Oh!" Hopping back to the windowsill, the redhead rubbed the back of her head. "Right. Good night!" And with that, she was gone.

********************

"Mom?" Nabiki was at her mother's bedside, holding her hand. On the other side, her father sat in a hospital chair, clutching Kimiko's other hand between both of his. She hadn't woken up since they found her. She was wired to an IV and plugged into a heart monitor, but her condition seemed to be steadily deteriorating.

Kasumi and Akane were right there beside Nabiki, and the tension in the room was palpable. "She's going to be okay, right?" Kasumi looked back at a doctor, preparing a syringe.

"I…we'll do our best," the doctor assured her. Looking back to the terrified martial artist, Soun Tendo, he cleared his throat. "We're still trying to determine the cause of your wife's illness. We'll need to run a analysis of her blood to be certain, but we believe this may be related to some form of illness. Do you mind if we take a sample?" Nabiki knew now that Dr. Mikazaki could have simply drawn the blood and walked out, but he was their mother's doctor for years, and had come to know her on a personal level. It was nice of him, to at least try to be courteous. She could see the fear in his eyes, just the same as her father's, and she knew he was doing everything he could to save her mother.

"Go ahead," Soun nodded to the doctor. As Dr. Mikazaki began extracting a blood sample, Kasumi jumped. Nudging Nabiki, she pointed at the syringe, which called her attention as well. "Um, Dr. Mikazaki?" Kasumi opened. "Why is it purple?"

"We don't know," Mikazaki answered her. "We suspect it may be a symptom of the illness that's befallen your mother, but we can't be certain until we've analyzed it." Looking at Soun, he sighed. "I have to be honest with you. I've never seen this before. We're doing everything in our power to help your wife, and I'm trying everything I have. But this illness is unusual, and…" Resting a hand on his old friend's shoulder, Mikazaki looked him in the eyes. "I think you should prepare yourself and your children…in the event of the worst."

With that, he withdrew from the room. It was two hours later that it happened. Akane was asleep in a chair, Nabiki had the second chair but couldn't find the same rest. Soun kneeled on the floor, holding his wife's hand tightly, and Kasumi refused to leave her mother's bed. "My love," Soun whispered, gently. "The doctors tell me they don't know what's wrong with you. They say there's a chance you might not make it. But I don't believe that. I don't believe that because I know you. Because you're stronger than you look, and because you would never give up, no matter what. I love you, and our children love you, and we're all waiting for you to come back to us. You're more than just a wife to me, Kimiko. You're everything. You're the reason I—" Kimiko's arm suddenly jerked. "Kimiko?"

This was followed by a full body thrash, which tossed Kasumi and Soun back. Another convulsion, and Kimiko began thrashing wildly, eyes open, mouth wide. The heart monitor was screeching off the chart, and Soun immediately screamed for help.

Dr. Mikazaki, a nurse, and two orderlies burst into the room, the orderlies helping to hold Kimiko down. "Hold her down, I need to sedate her! And someone get the family out of here!"

As a third orderly tried to escort the kids out, Soun struggled. "I'm not leaving my wife!" he insisted, elbowing the orderly that tried to grab him.

"Mr. Tendo, please! I need total concentration—" the violent thrashing stopped suddenly, and Mrs. Tendo collapsed back on the bed, ending the discussion. Her heart monitor had flatlined.

********************

Getting up in the morning was a chore for Nabiki. Brushing the sleep out of her eyes, she noticed a bedroll on the floor, presumably for her father, which had gone unused. The panda slept soundly over in the corner of the room, and Nabiki decided not to even bother with why he was a panda again. The second bed of the guest room also looked unused, but on closer inspection, it was just newly set. Kasumi probably made the bed after getting up.

It wasn't long before she was at Dr. Tofu's doorstep, however, eager to find out everything he'd discovered about the mystery toxin. "Dr. Tofu?" She asked into the office, walking towards the patient room where Akane had been. As she approached, she heard conversation going on inside.

"…been looking into it, and so far, I only have a few guesses as to what did this." Sliding the door open, Nabiki saw Ranma, already talking to Tofu. "Oh, Nabiki! Good to see you." The doc was still wearing the same clothes he had on yesterday, and from the bags under his eyes, Nabiki could tell he probably slept at the office, if he even slept at all last night. The bed where Akane had died was now clear; by now, Tofu had certainly surrendered the body to the morgue. The murder weapon was no longer in his possession either; the police almost certainly had that, and were launching an investigation of their own, for all the good it would do; the police of this town were deeply stupid and almost nonexistent anyways.

"What do you know?" Nabiki's voice was quick, direct, and to the point.

Tofu cleared his throat. "Here's what I've found out about the toxin. First of all, it isn't a toxin. It may seem like one upon initial inspection, but on closer analysis, I've determined that this fluid acts more like a fluid-transmissible virus that finds and exploits red marrow tissue." At the blank stare on Ranma's face, he clarified. "That's the stuff in your bones that makes new red blood cells, which your body needs to carry oxygen to your brain. Now, most viruses function by penetrating their target cell, ejecting tiny bits of DNA that overwrite what's currently in the nucleus, and hijacking the cell's production capabilities to produce more of the virus instead. This way, the cell's own health is neglected and it quickly dies. When this happens, the cell bursts and spreads millions of copies of the virus back into the body. Are you following me so far?"

"Um…sorta?" Ranma tried.

"I'm listening," Nabiki told him. "Go on."

Sitting back down at his microscope, Tofu tried to think of how to explain this for the two kids. "Now, what's different about THIS virus is that instead of simply producing more of itself, the virus hijacks the production to create something entirely different as well. What it also creates is a modified white blood cell, which performs a search-and-destroy on the red blood cells. Similar to what we call an autoimmune disease, but substantially more powerful. This also kicks the infected marrow into overdrive, so to speak, causing it to generate new cells at dozens of times the normal rate. In time, enough of the victim's red blood cells have been destroyed that the victim begins to experience hypoxia; the victim becomes light-headed and dizzy from a lack of oxygen reaching their brain. As the modified white blood cells continue to destroy the red, the victim essentially suffocates to death."

"Is it painful?" Nabiki asked.

"I can't imagine it's particularly PLEASANT," Dr. Tofu offered, "but with the amount of this substance that was injected in your sister, she was unconscious for most of the duration. I don't believe she felt much at all of it, and of that, she would have mostly just felt dizzy. Depending on the strength of the dosage, the process can take anywhere between a couple weeks and a matter of minutes to become lethal. With the amount that was injected into Akane…she was past the critical stage long before you ever reached my door, Ranma."

Ranma fidgeted with his hands. Even knowing what he was planning to do, standing here, listening to this was hard. Looking over at Nabiki, he noticed a silent determination on her face. He didn't know how much she believed, but he knew he was going to get Akane back somehow.

"Tell me about the weapon," Nabiki asked.

Adjusting his glasses, Dr. Tofu turned to face Nabiki directly. "It's very unusual. The police confiscated it for evidence this morning, but I did get a chance to study it beforehand. It's made of what appears to be a tempered iron, but it has a hollow chamber in the center, presumably for carrying the viral substance. The spike is simply a means of distribution; the tip retracts on impact, allowing the substance to flow freely into the body of the victim. It was built to carry enough for a lethal dose, which tells me it was explicitly designed as a murder weapon."

"Kodachi?" Ranma asked.

"Make no mistake," Tofu clarified. "This stuff is nothing like those paralysis powders and sleep potions you kids throw around all the time. It's extremely deadly, and I honestly have no idea where it came from. Now," he continued, "I still have several vials of Akane's infected blood that I can work with. I'll keep looking into this, and I'll let you know if I find anything. But I want you kids to be careful. I know you, especially YOU, Ranma. Whoever did this isn't a martial artist looking for a fair fight. You're dealing with a cold-blooded murderer with a VERY lethal weapon. I know nothing I say is going to sway you, one way or the other, but please, for the sake of your families, be careful. One tragedy is enough."

As the doctor spoke, Nabiki allowed her eyes to wander. Looking for nothing in particular, she just wasn't comfortable with the doctor's warning. It's true, they were planning something that would almost certainly turn out to be dangerous. She just couldn't bring herself to explain—

SLAM

Nabiki's bag hit the floor with a thundering bang, as she took a couple steps back. Shock and horror had overtaken her typical façade, as her eyes locked on a set of vials on the doc's table. "Is…is that…Akane's blood?"

"Hmm?" Tofu looked at the vials, then back to Nabiki. "Yes, it is. As I said, I'm still studying it to see if I can determine the source."

Her face drained of color, she turned her horrified eyes back on him. "…why is it purple?"


	3. Chapter 3: Everything has a Price

**Chapter Three: Everything Has a Price**

"You okay?" Ranma walked casually along the fence, penning off the street from the water below. Nabiki hadn't said a word since they left Dr. Tofu's, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, especially from what had happened when she saw Akane's blood sample. It was very rare to see her emotional; it was always scary when it happened.

"I'm fine, Ranma," Nabiki told him in the most neutral voice she could muster.

"It's just that—"

"RANMA. I'm fine. I'm a big girl, I can tie my own shoelaces, I don't need you holding my hand and telling me everything's going to be okay. Just drop it."

Ranma sighed, knowing that was going to be the end of it. Any further pressing would probably result in her closing herself off further, and if he upset her enough to change her mind about helping him find Delphi, it could be a very long time before he ever got out of Japan. As they walked in silence, his mind traced back to the last time he had walked to school with her. Akane had given their engagement to her, and she'd taken advantage of the opportunity to make a tidy profit off him, while at the same time playing with his emotions and putting him through the ringer. He'd eventually made back up with Akane, so all ended well. At least, it did then.

"So, I've been thinking," Nabiki spoke up again. "There's a long list of people that would want to hurt Akane. I think the best place to start is with her rivals, and Shampoo seems to be the most glaring." This was the hard part. Whoever had attacked Akane, it was a good bet it was someone they knew. Shampoo stuck out like a sore thumb. "She's a trained warrior and her people's customs do tend to be rather violent. She gave Akane the Kiss of Death the day she started trying to marry you, and that's a sworn promise to kill her."

With a sigh, Ranma concurred. "Whatever that stuff Dr. Tofu found in her was, the old ghoul could probably whip something up like that. She knows all sorts of old tricks, and has a ton of magic Amazon jewelry. But," he continued, "they're both in China right now. Shampoo told me they were called back for official Joketsuzoku duties. She wanted me to come with her."

"That's what she told you," Nabiki countered. "Doesn't mean that's actually where they are. We'll see; Shampoo doesn't have much self-restraint. If she killed Akane, she'll be all over you to gloat by the end of today. Who else is there…."

"Kodachi," they both came to at the same time. Ranma started. "She's nuts, has a thing for weird poisons, and sees Akane as an obstacle to claiming me. And she's ALWAYS drugging people. She might be able to cook up whatever that stuff was too."

"Problem is," Nabiki surmised, "she's not very quiet. On the contrary, she's very loud and obnoxious, and highlights every entrance and exit with rose petals. We would have noticed her almost immediately, and she never would have been able to get the drop on Akane." Thinking for a bit, she looked up to Ranma. "Then there's Ukyo."

"Whoa whoa whoa," Ranma interrupted, almost falling off the fence. "No way. Ucchan's a buddy of mine. She isn't capable of something like this."

"You'd be surprised what people are capable of when they're in love," Nabiki argued. "She has the motive: you. And it certainly isn't unlike her to obsess over something and respond violently. Remember, she DID try to kill you when she first came to Nerima."

"That was different!" Ranma insisted. "She's cool now."

"But," Nabiki continued, stroking her chin in thought, "poisons aren't exactly her specialty. She uses a very stylistic art, and we would certainly have noticed the smell of martial arts cooking in the house. Also, she did seem to have been at Ucchan's for a while when we got there. It's entirely possible that she arranged it to look like that, but given her long hours, it's simply more likely that she was there all night."

"See!" Ranma insisted. "It couldn't have been her!"

Nabiki glared at Ranma in response. "I'm not ruling her out. She IS still a possible assailant, and her alibi isn't perfect. Now, that covers the rivals. There are also YOUR rivals to consider. Most of them are in love with Akane, but unrequited love has led to crimes of passion in the past. We can discount Ryoga, if only because he was fighting with you when it happened. That's a pretty firm alibi. Kuno-baby's too thick-headed to pull something this clever off, and he would have recited prose for about two minutes beforehand, so he's out too. " Thinking for a moment, she offered, "What about Mousse?"

"Mousse has it in for me," Ranma admitted, "and he doesn't have a crush on Akane. He might attack her as a means to get to me, but he would definitely be here to gloat about it. And I think he's in China with Shampoo and the ghoul."

Nabiki considered for a moment, then looked up at Ranma on the fence. "Who else does that leave?"

"I dunno. Gosunkugi? He's really into all that weird magic stuff, but…." He didn't even have to finish. The very image of Gosunkugi trying to fight Akane was enough to bring a little smile to Nabiki's mouth. "Nah," Ranma chuckled. "He's got a creepy stalker crush on her but he's way too shy to do anything stupid, even if he DID have a reason. At the very most, he was probably just hiding outside her room taking pictures when it…."

At once, both Nabiki and Ranma stopped walking. It seemed so obvious in retrospect. Looking at Ranma suddenly, Nabiki could see her own realization reflected on his face. "Find him," she all but ordered, an icy firmness carrying her voice. "Get anything he has. Beat it out of him if you have to, just get any photos he has of last night." The first piece of the puzzle may be within their grasp.

********************

"Did you hear what happened at the Tendos' last night?"

"I heard they were attacked by a big man with a machine gun."

"I heard it was Ranma."

"You're all nuts, I heard it was an earthquake."

"Yes, Mitsumi-chan, a localized earthquake limited entirely to the space of the Tendos' home."

"Well, it makes more sense than your man with machine gun!"

"No, it doesn't!"

"I heard Ranma was fighting with that Ryoga kid and Akane got in the way, and they both blasted her at the same time, BOOM!"

"You've been watching too many movies."

Word travels fast in Nerima, and the school was already buzzing with stories of what happened at the Tendo home. The ambulances parked outside Dr. Tofu's early this morning had been one thing, but the police cars streaking towards the Tendo home raised even more questions. And where there were questions, rumor often filled the void where answers had yet to come.

It was these rumors that led one Tatewaki Kuno, age 17, to the front gates of Furinkan High. Standing firm, bokken in hand, he waited. Every day before he had waited on this spot, ready to challenge Akane when she came through those gates. One day, he would defeat her, and on that day, she would see his strength and she would date with him. This, he knew.

This morning came different from all before. Akane didn't race through the gates, ready to fight. Ranma didn't bound onto the field with the energy of a fighter. No, Akane didn't come through at all…it was Nabiki Tendo who walked through the gates, carrying the weight of hardship on her back. She had always been cold, but now there was an ice that chilled even his soul emanating from her stare, as she locked her merciless eyes on him. Beside her, Ranma hopped down from the fence, lacking the usual youthful vibrance he usually had when he fought Kuno, but with an unmistakable sense of purpose.

"SAOTOME!" Kuno challenged. "Tell me swift and tell me true. Where is Akane Tendo this day, and by what meaning do you walk to school with sister Nabiki?"

"Akane's…" Ranma struggled for words. "She's sick. She isn't going to be in today."

"Did you hear that?" One of the girls whispered to another. "Something happened to Akane!"

"NO!" Ranma shouted. "She's just…she's going to be okay, she's just gone away for a while."

"I thought you said she was sick!" one of the boys from the crowd yelled.

"I meant—"

"Stow it, Saotome," Nabiki glared. "We don't have to explain anything to Akane's stalker or the gossip brigade." Walking past Kuno, Nabiki marched straight for the doors to Furinkan. She had a mission and didn't have time for this.

"Hey, wait up!" Ranma tried to follow, but was met by the tip of Kuno's bokken, held just at the tip of his nose.

"HOLD, knave. You shall not pass until you have explained the exact nature of this malady that has overtaken the fair Akane Tendo."

"I really don't have time for this, Kuno," Ranma festered, anger beginning to boil at the idiot holding the wooden sword.

"Tell me true, Saotome. Where is Akane? What has transpired?! You will tell me what you have done to Aka-"

"What I'VE done?!" Ranma lost it. Emotions boiled to the surface that could no longer be contained, not in the wake of his terrible loss. There were so many things he could say right now. So many barbs to throw, and Kuno deserved every last one of them, he knew. Every fiber of his being ached for violence. It was engrained in him; he was a fighter, it's what he understood. But he still had his honor. "What about YOU?! You made the last couple years a nightmare for her! She HATED you!"

A slip of verbage, and Ranma found himself stumbling. "…hates you. She hates you." His quiet correction did not go unnoticed by the drawing crowd.

Two of the boys drew out of the crowd; Ranma's friends, Hiroshi and Daisuke. Placing a hand on Ranma's shoulder, Hiroshi asked him, "You okay, man? What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Pushing the bokken away, Ranma strode towards the doors, but Kuno wouldn't bend.

"Saotome! I never gave you permission to leave! You will answer or you will face—"

Leveling him with a heavy blow to the face, Ranma kept walking. "Not now, Kuno. Not now." Nine times out of ten, Kuno was a pushover that required little more than one good, solid hit to put him down. It was only when he was really motivated that he took any more than that and even then, usually not much.

********************

"This is the deal," Nabiki addressed a boy named Hatamara, in the school library in Furinkan. "You owe me what is not an insubstantial amount of money. I've covered some of your excesses with your geology club, but you still have failed to return a profit. Recent events, however, have opened up a small window of opportunity. I need information and you seem to be a good place to start. If you have answers I need, answers that I find satisfactory, I'll be willing to forgive 15% of your debt." Everything has a price, Nabiki knew that well. But still, there was no reason to get crazy with it.

The boy looked down at his book, puzzled. "Um…I'll need to think about it—"

"Tick tock," Nabiki warned him. "I'm kind of on a short schedule here. Look, this isn't some big Faustian pact I'm trying to use to rope you into more debt. You give me answers, you owe me less. Short, sweet, we both walk away happy. Or at least, I walk away happy and you walk away mildly less discomforted than you were before."

"Alright," Hatamara conceded. "What do you need to know?"

"Excellent." Pulling a chair and taking a seat opposite the boy, Nabiki leaned forward on her hands. "I need everything you know about a place called Delphi."

"Oh!" The boy sat up immediately. "That's easy. It's a good thing you came today, too. See, our club has recently been doing some study on the old Western religions, and we came upon—"

"I'm on a timer here."

"Oh, well…Delphi used to be a holy site in Greece. It was the home to the Pythian Games, but the major attraction was the Oracle of Apollo."

"Apollo," Nabiki repeated. "There's that name again. What does it mean?"

"Apollo is one of the old Western gods. Brother of Artemis. He was supposedly a god of art, love, and compassion, and it was believed that his Oracle was so great, they could predict the future with flawless accuracy. Of course," he adjusted his glasses, "that's all religious superstition. But it really meant something to them, and people would journey from miles around to meet with Apollo's Oracle."

Things were starting to come together in a way that made Nabiki actually begin to wonder about the crazy things Ranma was suggesting. "Then this island…is there any easy way to reach it?"

Hatamara blinked. "What island?"

Nabiki narrowed her eyes. "Delphi."

Another confused blink. "Delphi isn't an island."

A moment passed. Then another. The silence between the two was palpable, before Nabiki finally cut through it, with a single, icy word. "_**What.**_"

"Delphi's not an island. It's not even close to an island, it's completely landlocked. It sits on the southwest side of Mt. Parnassus. Whoever told you it was an island really needs to get their facts straight, because I don't even know how you would make that kind of mistake."

She was going to kill Ranma. "Can you at least tell me if the Oracle is still there?"

"Why would there be an Oracle? The religion's been dead for over a thousand years. No one seriously believes in the Olympian gods anymore."

With a sigh, Nabiki stood from her chair. "Thank you, Hatamara. This has been…interesting."

As she turned to walk away, she was caught by Hatamara's voice. "So, you'll take 15% off my debt, right?"

Stopping for a second, she considered. Even if the information had not exactly been what she wanted to hear, he'd upheld his end. No reason to burn that bridge when it might come in useful again some day in the future. "Sure," she offered back. "15%, as we agreed."

********************

"CURSE YOU, SAOTOME!" Hikaru Gosunkugi stood behind the school, holding a voodoo doll in his right hand, with a spike and hammer in his left. "It's your fault this happened! If you hadn't gotten involved, Akane…" He began to swoon at just the mention of her name. "Akane…." Catching himself, he returned to what he was doing, standing before a large tree. "You did this to her!" Pressing his voodoo doll against the tree with the long spike, he hefted his hammer. "Curse you forever, HATED SAOTOME!"

DOCK

The hammer struck the nail, and he cried out again. "HATED SAOTOME!"

DOCK

"HATED SAOTOME!"

DOCK

"HATED SAOTOME!"

"Hey, Gosunkugi." A chillingly familiar voice called out from higher in the tree, before Ranma dropped into sight, hanging upside down by his knees from a tree branch.

"GARGH!" Gosunkugi fell backwards suddenly, startled by Ranma's appearance. "HATED SAOTOME?! I mean, um…Saotome?!"

"Yeah, listen," Ranma dropped down from the tree. "We need to talk. I know about your stalking Akane."

"Akane…" Gosunkugi swooned again, before Ranma snapped him out of it. "I-I-I wouldn't…I mean I…I mean—"

"Relax," Ranma assured him. "Might actually be a good thing today. I just need to see whatever photos you took last night."

"I haven't taken any photos recently," Gosunkugi insisted.

"You're wearing your camera."

"It's just a habit!"

"Look, Gosunkugi," Ranma sighed. "Akane's…she's hurt real bad. If you have anything that could help us find out who attacked her, I'm sure she'd appreciate it. And I'm sure she'd find some way to show you just how _much_ she appreciates it."

"Don't you patronize me, Saotome," Gosunkugi responded quickly. "I heard what the doctor said. I know you're lying."

"You WERE there!" Ranma hovered over Gosunkugi, who immediately shrank back down smaller. "This is important. Did you see anything? Do you have pictures? Do you know who killed Akane?!"

That last part may have been said a bit too loud, but behind the school, Ranma hoped no one could overhear.

"I-I-I don't…why should I…it's your fault!"

"Alright, talking's failed. Now we move to hitting." Standing over Gosunkugi, who had crouched down in fear, Ranma smacked his right fist into his left palm. It was an empty threat and he knew it; attacking a weak, defenseless person, even Gosunkugi, without suitable provocation violated everything he believed in. But he knew Gosunkugi wouldn't call his bluff.

"No! I-I-I can't—"

"Every time you say 'I can't', I'm going to punch you in the face."

The little occultist had long held opinion of Ranma as a brutish thug who got away with doing whatever he wanted to whoever he wanted by sheer force of violence. This wasn't the first time Ranma had played to others' opinions of him. It probably wouldn't be the last.

"No!" Gosunkugi squealed. "That is, I…um…I'll only help you if you promise to work for me, and do my bidding for a year."

After careful consideration for all of half a second, Ranma had his answer. "Alright, face-punching time." Grabbing Gosunkugi by the scruff of his shirt, he pulled back his fist in an obvious threat.

"NO! Nononono, stop! I'll give you everything! Just don't hit me."

"Where are the photos?"

"I…I developed them this morning." Reluctantly, Gosunkugi reached inside the collar of his uniform and removed a set of photographs from an inside pocket. Looking down at his feet, he held them out to Ranma with shaking hands. "This-This is everything…don't hit me."

"Great." Letting Gosunkugi drop, Ranma pocketed the pictures. He'd look over them after school with Nabiki. Turning away, his mood immediately lightened. "Thanks, Gosunkugi. That'll—" Sidestepping a desperate lunge to his back with nail and hammer, "—be a great help." The little occultist landed facedown in the mud, having thrown everything he had into his ambush leap. Ranma simply walked on, neither noticing not caring.

********************

"Any luck?" Ranma asked, approaching the bench where Nabiki waited.

"More than I would have liked," Nabiki confessed. For just a brief second, she'd gotten her hopes up at the mention of Apollo, but those hopes had come crashing down before her meeting with the geology kid had ended. "Look, Ranma, we need to talk. I did some research into Delphi, and the news isn't good."

Taking a seat, Ranma shrugged. "When's it ever?"

"There IS such a place as Delphi, Ranma. But it's not an island. It's an inland holy site in Greece."

"Well, maybe there's two of 'em," Ranma argued.

Nabiki sighed. "Two of them that both claim rights to the Oracle of Apollo? Yeah, I did some looking into that too. It's a glorified fortune teller that hasn't existed in over a thousand years."

"Look, Nabiki, I know it's hard to believe, but these…these things I saw, they told me—"

"How do you know you weren't just dreaming it, Ranma? Maybe you read the name Delphi in a book somewhere, or heard it in class once, and your subconscious just picked it up?"

"Maybe," Ranma admitted. "But something about this feels stronger than that. I have to try."

Nabiki sighed. Shortage of determination was never on Ranma's list of failings; if anything, he actually had too much. "Alright, Ranma."

"You still coming?" He offered pointedly. "You don't have to. It was your call."

"Yes, I do have to," Nabiki grumbled. "If I don't, you two will kill each other."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Just meet me at Port Yokosuka Sunday. I found your ship. And come as a girl."

"As a girl? Nabiki, what did you—"

"No questions, Ranma. Just do it."

"But why won't you—"

"Because if I tell you, then you won't do it. You want a ship, I got you a ship, so just do it, Ranma." With a grunt of frustration, she turned her mind to other topics. "Now. What did you find out from Gosunkugi?"

"Here's everything he had," Ranma pulled out the pictures. "We were right, he was there last night. Here's the fight." Laying out the photos, Ranma picked up two pictures of a hard angle at Akane's window. Akane could be seen inside, fighting with…something. There was no one else in the frame, but it was possible the angle simply obscured it. Still, you would think there would be something.

"Great," Nabiki sighed. "So it's useless. Wonderful."

"Pretty much," Ranma agreed. "I terrorized Gosunkugi for nothing."

Rubbing her forehead for a few seconds, Nabiki leaned back on the bench. "Great. So we've got no leads except your stupid magic island. And we still have to think about what we're going to tell our families."

"We do?" Ranma blinked a couple times. This hadn't even occurred to him. Familial responsibility wasn't really a watch word with the Saotomes. "I thought we'd just take off, maybe leave a note or something."

He knew he'd said something wrong when Nabiki's death gaze caught him. "Great. Brilliant plan, Saotome. And then we come home to our fathers celebrating the joining of the schools because they think we ELOPED. I am not opening that can of worms, especially not with you."

"Oh," Ranma realized. "I didn't really think about that."

"Of course you didn't." Nabiki was frustrated now, and she was letting it get the better of her. She knew it, but she largely didn't care. "Look, we'll break it to them Saturday night. Then we'll be ready to go on Sunday without having to put up with too much of them trying to talk us out of it or, worse, trying to come along. If this stupid magic not-an-island really does exist, then my daddy's just going to be dead weight and I wouldn't trust yours with a five-yen piece. Now come on. We should get home before Daddy starts freaking out about me being out late. He's going to be very protective for a while."

********************

The rest of the week passed by slowly. Dinner had become a quiet and isolated experience. It was two days before the Tendo father finally relented to come out of his mourning for his daughter, briefly, to eat with the family. When he did, he was always silent throughout. Even Genma couldn't coax him into a game of shogi or go, and as soon as dinner was finished, he was back in his room or the furo, crying to himself about his littlest child.

Kasumi tried to keep her spirits up, and tried to be strong for the family, but the swelling around her bloodshot eyes told a different story. She cried while she cleaned the dishes, when the faucet would drown out the noise, and from time to time, Nabiki would see her body trembling while she cooked dinner for the family. Watching her older sister fall silently apart as she tried so hard to hold the rest of the family together, Nabiki wished silently to herself that maybe, just maybe, Ranma's island was real and Akane could still be brought back. But she knew better than to hope.

Ranma's father was undoubtedly the least affected by the loss of Akane. Of course, Nabiki knew, why should he care? She was just his son's fiancée, who he loved with every fiber of his being. She was only his soon-to-be daughter-in-law, and the daughter of his best friend. After all, there were two more of those here, and as soon as her Daddy was on his feet again, she knew Genma would be trying to push the engagement off on her or Kasumi. Whatever it takes to secure his free, easy, lazy future with the Tendos, the stupid panda.

She could barely stand to look at him during meals, or when he forced Ranma to spar every morning. She just focused on her meals, and on her family. Genma wasn't a part of that, not yet. And if she had her way, he never would be, even IF they set everything right and Ranma wed Akane as planned.

And so it was that Saturday night came, and the family sat gathered at the dinner table, eating in awkward silence as everyone felt the absence of the smallest Tendo. After clearing their plates, Ranma and Nabiki shared a nervous glance. This wasn't going to go well, and they knew it, but the time had come and it was still better than the frightful alternative Ranma had suggested before.

Standing up from the table, Ranma looked around to the family. "Um…I've got something to say, and I don't know that you're gonna like it." Kasumi looked up to him, in curiosity. Genma sat up, looking at his son. Even Soun gave him his attention, what little he could spare. Clearing his throat, Ranma made the announcement. "I'm going on a trip. It's not a training trip. It's more important than that, but I can't tell you why." He'd discussed this with Nabiki beforehand. If they got her father's hopes up about restoring Akane to life, and then came home empty-handed, it would hit him just as hard as the day he'd lost her to begin with, if not harder.

Standing up, Genma looked to his son. "A fine idea. I'll come with you. It might help clear the air for us both to get away for a bit."

"No, pops," Ranma insisted. "Sorry. But this is something I gotta do myself."

"Ranma, is it…is it Akane?" Kasumi nailed it right on the dot.

"It's more complicated than that," Ranma was getting defensive. Nabiki caught the look of realization on Genma's face; yes, you idiot, your son's going to be having trouble dealing with Akane's death and maybe he doesn't need your particular brand of training right now.

Slapping his son on the back, Genma grinned. "Alright, boy, you do what you need to do. I'll just tag along to make sure everything goes—"

"It's going to be extremely dangerous," Nabiki offered.

"Alright, boy, you do what you need to do. And hurry home!"

Standing up with tears in his eyes, Soun grabbed Ranma and pulled him into an embrace, which immediately caused Ranma to panic and try to pull away. The action took everyone completely by surprise. For the first time in days, he spoke to the boy. "I know how terrible it is to lose someone you care about so deeply, because I have been there myself. I had to watch for three weeks while my wife slowly died, and there was nothing I could do to save her. The only thing that carried me was knowing that she loved me, that even in her last moments, our family was the most important thing to her. My daughter loved you, Ranma. You have to know that. Take whatever time you need and let this one simple truth carry you, wherever you go."

Ranma nearly fell to his knees when Soun released him. For just one quick, powerful moment, he started to feel the pain of losing Akane bubbling up beneath him. With trembling hands and shaking knees, he held firm, and it was gone soon, replaced by certainty and confidence. There was no need to mourn her. She was coming back. He was going to have her back. "Thanks…" was all he could get out, before sitting back down.

Clearing her throat, Nabiki spoke up. "Good. Now that that's settled, I'm going with him." The whole living room was an uproar immediately following that announcement.

"You can't go!" Kasumi cried.

"You said it would be extremely dangerous!" Soun threw back at her.

"What about your education?!" Kasumi attacked.

"I'm not going to have my daughter going off and dying in some foreign land!" Soun panicked.

"You still have classes you need to attend!" Kasumi insisted.

Waving them off, Nabiki swallowed. "This is something I have to do. I can't ask you to understand, because I know you won't. I do ask you to understand that you can't stop me. This is my choice, and I've made it."

That didn't go over so well. "Nabiki, you cannot leave," her father pleaded. "Kasumi is right, you still have your education to worry about. There is no telling how long Ranma is going to be gone, and I couldn't bear to see you miss out on your future because of this!"

"Sorry, Daddy, but this is too important," Nabiki insisted. Where her eyes usually filled with detached coldness, her father could see a strange conviction and determination. She wasn't going to let this go, he realized. "Look, I'll write when I get the chance, and it's not like I won't be studying. I can take my textbooks. Sure, I'll miss a few classes, but if I study hard, I should be able to take the college entrance exams when I get back."

"Nabiki—"

"Daddy, Ranma needs me for this. I can't tell you why, but he does. So just try to have faith in me, if not in Ranma. I wouldn't be doing this if I hadn't already considered the angles."

After a moment's consideration, her father came to his answer. He'd listened to her words, and he'd gone over them carefully in his head. "If that's the case…no. I'm sorry, Nabiki, but no. That's my answer. I will not have you dying in some far away land, never to be heard from again. I'm not going to spend months wondering if you're okay, hoping against hope that I hear from you and preparing a THIRD funeral for someone that I love. I will not go through that again."

Sighing, Nabiki gave in. "Alright, Daddy. I'll stay here. Saotome, looks like you're on your own.

********************

The next morning, they were off. Nabiki had left a note taped to her bed that simply said, "I told you that you couldn't stop me." She had gone on ahead earlier that morning to prepare, leaving Ranma to catch up after his morning sparring session with his father. It was approaching noon when he reached Yokosuka. As he neared the port, he remembered to splash water on himself, heading down to the docks of the Tokyo Bay and dunking her upper body in the water.

"Ranma!" Nabiki called out to her, running down the dock to reach her. "There you are. I was starting to think you'd gotten lost, and Ryoga Syndrome is the last thing we need right now. Follow me, I'll show you what we've got."

As they came down the dock, Nabiki gestured at a small, dull grey craft resting in the waters, roped to the docks. What she lacked in color, she made up for in toughness, Ranma could see this from here. He didn't know much about ships, but she looked pretty sturdy as the waves splashed against her. "This is it, but it's probably better to let him explain it."

Ranma blinked. "Let who—"

"Aha! There you are, my lovely pig-tailed girl!" Kuno exclaimed vibrantly, coming down the bridge. "When I heard Nabiki Tendo tell of the waters you were sure to face, I could not stand by and permit such a maiden as yourself to risk such dangers unaccompanied!"

Ranma immediately shot Nabiki a violent death glare, for which Nabiki shrugged her shoulders and responded, "I warned you, everything has a price. This is yours. Kuno-baby's the only person I know that could get us a ship on this short notice. His family has the kind of wealth I could only drool over."

As Kuno came down the bridge, he looked to his maiden. "Truly, I can think of no greater pleasure than to spend the weeks alone with you, sweet pig-tailed girl, and savor the long, romantic nights on the high seas. Come, my love, let us seal this date with a kiss—"

Kuno's lips were immediately met by Ranma's foot as he tried to wrap his arms around her. Changing the subject as quickly as she could, she looked to the ship. "What's she called?"

"We have not yet provided a name. Nabiki thought it best to wait for you. But do not fret, my love. She may not look much, but she is faster than she looks, and strong enough to weather even the mighty ocean's fury. She will not fail us, no matter what."

After some consideration, Ranma faced the ship. Only one name seemed suitable, especially after Kuno's description. "Akane."

Out the corner of her eye, Ranma could swear she saw a light smile break across Nabiki's face, before it was replaced with her familiar glower. Kuno, however, swallowed this idea up. "A fine name, and a truly fitting description. My only regret is that the fair Akane Tendo is not, herself, present to witness such a momentous occasion. Come! Let us be off, and may the grace of Akane guide us to our destination!"

As Kuno started back up the bridge, Ranma held back with Nabiki. "So, have you told him yet?"

"If you're right," Nabiki insisted, "then we won't have to."


	4. Chapter 4: The Island of Hidden Truths

**Chapter 4: The Island of Hidden Truths**

"Ranma, we need to talk," Nabiki fumed about the deck of the Akane. The sun had been blotted out by storm clouds for four days, and they had entered into sheer fog less than a day ago. "It's been three weeks. I'm cold. I'm wet. We're not going anywhere. How long are we going to keep this up?!" Three weeks in open water and they'd found nothing.

"Hey, I'm not any happier about it than you are," Ranma insisted. Three weeks at sea meant three weeks since she'd been a man, and that was beginning to grate on her. She hated being locked into this form. She always had. And then there was Kuno, the "price" Nabiki had spoken of before. The first night at sea, she'd caught him trying to sneak into her bunk. A savage beating later, it was decided Ranma would sleep on a separate shift than Kuno and Nabiki, so the mercenary girl could watch him.

Kuno, for his part, felt he had done nothing wrong. The love he shared with the Pig-Tailed Girl was true, after all, so why should they be kept apart?

"Then why are we still out here?" Nabiki grumbled. "Look, I've humored this stupid idea of yours, Ranma. I've tried to be polite about it. I've tried to go along with it. But all we're doing is wasting our time looking for a magic island that doesn't exist. I KNOW where Delphi is and so do you. It's on the other side of the world, and NOT in the Pacific Ocean." This was an argument that had come up every day for the past week, and they were both tiring of it quickly. "And while we're wasting time here, my sister's killer is disappearing to who knows where. The trail's gone cold by now.

"Listen, Nabiki, I know we're going the right way. You've just gotta trust me."

"Trust you? That's what you said two weeks ago. Ranma, we don't even have a destination." Since setting out from the Tokyo Bay, they had sailed southeast from Japan for a week, before turning due east.

"I'm following my instincts. They're leading us to Delphi."

"They're leading us to the middle of the ocean so we can run out of food and die." Looking away from Ranma, she leaned out over the railing. "Why did I ever think following you was a good idea?"

"I don't know, Nabiki. Why did you? All you've done since we set out is gripe about how long we're going to be out here! It was YOUR idea to come along, you FORCED me to swear I wouldn't leave you behind!"

Refusing to look at Ranma, Nabiki uttered coldly, "I guess I thought you were smarter than this."

"That's it," Ranma exclaimed, "I've had enough of that! Just because I'm not good at dealing with people and maybe I let my honor get the better of me sometimes doesn't make me stupid, Nabiki!"

"No," the mercenary girl came back around, facing her. "The fact that you're out here chasing after some stupid pixie dream about an island that doesn't exist instead of hunting down my sister's killer makes you stupid. When are you going to grow up, Ranma?" The air was still between them, with the only sound the pattering of raindrops pelting the metal of the deck.

When Ranma spoke again, her voice was quiet and reserved. "I'm out here because I actually care about someone other than myself. I'm here because I'm willing to take a chance, because I'm not a cold, heartless shell. Maybe you should try that sometime."

The fire that lit Nabiki's eyes, Ranma found strangely familiar. She knew it so very well; it was the same fire that burned in Akane's, when she found Ranma in a compromising position with one of the other fiancées, or when he said just the wrong thing at just the wrong time. But where Akane's was a loud, screaming, violent rage, this was subtle. Even as the fire burned, Nabiki allowed no change in her facial expression. There was no yelling. No hitting. No sudden lashing out that sent him into the next county. It was quiet, and it scared her more than anything he'd ever seen from Akane. Opening her mouth to speak, Nabiki's voice was calm and neutral, but still carried the weight of a Tendo's fury. "Don't you dare suggest that I—"

"There you are, my Pig-Tailed Goddess!" Kuno sprang from behind with his arms spread wide, being met by a hard fist directly into his face and landing on his chest on the rain-soaked deck.

"This is a really bad time, Kuno," Ranma threw at him, not even glancing away from the deadlock with Nabiki.

"Kuno-baby, why are you here? You're supposed to be steering."

"Aha!" Kuno was on his feet again in an instant. "I came to inform my voluptuous Pig-Tailed girl and, to a lesser extent, you. Through the fog, I have witnessed what appears to be a formation jutting out of the water. I suspect it may be our island."

"Really!" Ranma's mood immediately turned to glee. "Well, what are you doing here?!" She started to shove him back towards the cabin. "Get over there and steer us in!"

Whirling around suddenly, Kuno opened his arms wide. "First, I shall grant you the kiss of triumph, fair mai—" Ranma's fist was at his jaw in an instant. Kuno really was a glutton for punishment.

As Kuno picked himself up again, Ranma turned on the charm. "You know what I'd REALLY like, Tatewaki? For you to go back in there and steer us as close as you can to the island."

"For our love, it will be an honor, my sweet."

As soon as Kuno was gone, Ranma stuck out her tongue and choked on her words. She'd had to do that too often these last few weeks, and it was really beginning to grate on her nerves. But at least now—

"Hold up," Nabiki stood before them, stopping Kuno. "Show me this island, I need to see it for myself."

Taking Nabiki and Ranma into the cockpit, Kuno pointed at a shape, difficult to make out in the gathering fog. Sure enough, it looked to Ranma like a definite land formation coming up out of the waters, but Nabiki still couldn't believe it. "That's impossible. I've checked the maps. There's nothing out here but ocean."

"It's Delphi," Ranma grinned.

"It can't be Delphi."

"Trust me. This feels right. Kuno, take us in!"

********************

It was a little over an hour before they were standing on the shore of the island, Kuno dragging a small shore boat onto the beach and away from the waves. The anchor on the Akane had been dropped some ways out, and he and Nabiki had to come the rest of the way in the smaller dinghy. Ranma, eager as she was, had dove straight into the ocean and swam for the island. She insisted it was nothing; these waves weren't even close to some of the waters she'd had to handle when she was swimming to and from China with her father.

The beach was a desolate and foreboding places. Rain turned the sand to mush between their feet, and the only way through appeared to be a cave leading upwards. Ranma had already gone in alone, too eager to wait for Nabiki and Kuno. Nabiki turned back to Kuno for just a second, giving instruction. "Drag the dinghy in the cave. I don't want to worry about the waves stealing it back." As she stepped through the mouth of the cave, a cold, harsh mist rolled out, stinging her already-soaked skin with its icy fingers. The inside seemed illuminated by a pale, blue glow that looked to be coming from the very mists themselves. The jagged rock formations guarding the walls and ceilings marked it as a place she very much did not want to go, but if this really was Ranma's magic island, then she had to know. "Come on, Kuno-baby, this shouldn't take that long," she called over her shoulder. But no answer came.

"Kuno-baby?" Turning around, she found the mouth of the cave was not where she had left it. In its place were tunnels, a network of passages that led deeper into the caves. Confused, she started looking around, her eyes frantically darting for an explanation, but found nothing but open passages and tunnels everywhere around her.

"Okay," she whispered to herself. "Take a deep breath. Don't panic." She had come from the shore, so if she followed the caves back downhill, perhaps it would lead her back. Or she could try her luck upwards, and see if she could find an opening higher up to give her a better vantage. Weighing her options, she opted for the latter. Picking the tunnel that seemed to have the steeper incline, she started her rough ascent.

After a couple minutes of hiking, she thought she saw an outline in the mist. Keeping close to the wall, she inched slowly towards it, just to be safe. Details slowly began to come into view. Female. Short. Red hair. Pigtails. With a grunt of frustration, she marched towards it. "THERE you are, Ranma. You shouldn't have just ran on ahead like that. What were you thinking?"

"I just needed to get away from you," Ranma spoke without hesitation. She didn't even turn to look at Nabiki.

Nabiki sighed. "Look, Ranma, we still don't know that this is your Delphi island. We both know that Delphi is—"

"You know, Nabiki, you're really not as smart as you think you are." Now Ranma turned towards her, and Nabiki saw nothing but malice in her eyes. "You talk a lot, and you really like to manipulate people, but you're not very good at it. I mean, every time you tried to trick me and Akane into getting together, it just blew up in your face, didn't it?"

"Ranma, is this really the time for this? I mean, we're here for a reason."

"No, I'm here for a reason," Ranma corrected her. "You're just here so you can gloat when it turns out I'm wrong. Not looking so good for you now, is it? I mean, here we are, standing on an island you were so certain doesn't exist. You know what that feeling is, Nabiki? It's the feeling of being wrong. Something I don't think you know how to handle."

"Alright, Ranma, you want to do this here? Fine."

"And now you're stepping up," Ranma chuckled. "You just can't back down from an attack on your pride, can you? No, you always have to be right. You think you know better than the rest of us and you hate it when your little schemes go awry. You came here just so you could prove it wasn't real, so that in the end, you could say that you were right and I was wrong. You didn't come here for me or for Kuno, or even for Akane. You just did it to prove a point."

"You're wrong," Nabiki snarled. "I'm here for Akane—"

"Are you?" Stepping slowly out of the mists behind Ranma, her fingers lightly tracing along the pig-tailed girl's shoulders before she looked at Nabiki, Akane Tendo scowled. "I don't think so. The fuss you made on my ship, you were just waiting for your chance to say 'I told you so', weren't you? You never cared an ounce about me."

"Akane?!" Nabiki's heart jumped in her chest. "This is impossible. Ranma, what's going on here?"

"You're so smart," Ranma countered. "You figure it out. Or maybe you could ask your friends, except…no, you don't really have friends, do you?"

"She has us," Akane looked into her fiancé's eyes. "For all that counts."

********************

Elsewhere, Ranma found her climb getting steadily rockier as the caves drew her up higher. Echoing through the caves, a familiar voice cried out to her ears. "Oh, where am I NOW?"

She knew well, both the voice and their words. Dashing towards the source, she cried out. "Ryoga! Is that you?"

Coming around the corner, Ranma found the Lost Boy, sitting on a rock with his hands on his forehead. Ryoga looked up at him only once, before turning his gaze back down to his feet. "Oh. It's you."

"Ryoga, how did you get here?"

"Like I know?!" Ryoga threw his arms up in frustration. "Look, Ranma, I'm really not in the mood, so just leave me alone, alright?"

There was an awkward silence, before it dawned on Ranma. "You're upset about Akane. Well, don't worry; we're going to bring her back!" Ranma was on the verge of excitement as she spoke. "That's why we're here, and now that you're here, you can help us! We can save her, Ryoga!"

"I should hope so," Ryoga grunted. "You were the one that let her die in the first place."

That caught Ranma's temper. "You didn't just say that."

Looking up at her with anger burning in his eyes, Ryoga erupted. "Why not? It's the truth, isn't it? Don't tell me you haven't thought about it, because I know that's a lie. Akane never had that many enemies, and of the ones she had, most were because of you! We both know it was probably Ukyo, Shampoo, or Kodachi that killed her, and why would they have, except to get to you?"

Ranma took a step back from Ryoga's accusations, before turning on him. "Hey, I didn't kill Akane! And don't go throwing blame at me when we don't know what happened yet! I'm here right now, trying to save her—"

"For all the good it will do," a voice came from behind Ranma. Turning her head, he saw Nabiki, stepping out of the mist. "You don't even know what you're looking for, Ranma. You're chasing vague illusions and promises of a goal to chase after later. Do you even know why you're here?"

"To save Akane," Ranma responded bluntly.

"No," Nabiki spoke coldly. "You're here to undo your failure. You're here to bring her back to life, because she's dead."

"I can still save her—"

"No one can save her, Ranma. She's already gone. This isn't like beating up a few martial artists and getting her out of a cell. She's dead."

"I…I know," Ranma admitted quietly. She still couldn't bring herself to say it, but somewhere inside, she knew.

"Say it." Nabiki's voice stung his ears. "Say the words, Ranma. She's dead. Akane is dead."

Ranma stood silent as the words played with his mind. She still remembered seeing her, crumpled in Ryoga's arms where he'd caught her. The pyramidal spike jutting out of her chest. Dr. Tofu announcing her death. She was there. She knew it all. But it still seemed wrong to her. "I can't—"

"Of course you can't," a husky voice pierced the mists. "Because you're weak, boy. You can't face what's straight in front of you, like a man should." Ranma didn't even need to turn around. She would recognize her father's voice anywhere. "So why don't you just go cry in a corner, like a little woman? You're an embarrassment to your family."

It had to be a trick; some manner of illusion, some kind of deception that was holding her here. Ryoga was sketchy enough, but there was no reason for her father to be on this island. And the way everyone spoke…there was something decisively wrong with it. But part of her still questioned the words they were speaking. Every sling, every barb, every accusation had struck deep somewhere inside her, especially Ryoga's. Was it truly her fault? Did Akane die because of her?

"This is all because of you, Ranma," Ryoga insisted.

"You should face your responsibilities as a man," Genma agreed.

"You murdered my sister," Nabiki joined.

"Stop it," Ranma spoke quietly. Her hands balled into fists as she spoke, she looked back up from her feet and glared at the three offending phantoms. "I didn't kill Akane. And I don't have to listen to this." Turning away from the voices, she started on her path back up towards the top of the climb.

"Running away, huh boy? That's all you seem good for these days! Just run away and leave your dead fiancée for everyone else to clean up."

"I'm NOT running," Ranma turned back, furious. "And Akane isn't dead. She may look like it. She may seem like it. But she's not. So long as there's hope, so long as there is any chance of bringing her back, she isn't dead." Turning back to her climb, Ranma continued. "As long as I breathe, I will never give up on her."

"And what about us?" Ukyo's voice cut through him like a knife. Turning back, Nabiki, Genma, and Ryoga had faded. And where they stood, Shampoo and Ukyo remained.

********************

Nabiki struggled to keep her legs. "You're not real," she told the lovers standing before her. "You're a trick. This place is playing games with my head."

"Of course it is," Akane admitted. "Why would we ever waste our time with a greedy, amoral worm like you? It would have to be a magic cave to get us to bother."

"No one would ever help you, Nabiki." Ranma stepped closer to her, looking her straight in the eyes. "You use people, you lie to people, you play with their emotions for your own selfish gain. Do you even care? Does it even sting a little when you know that people have been hurt by you? Do you regret, even for one second, the things you've done? Or do you just sit and plot out your next little game."

"I haven't hurt anyone," Nabiki defended.

"You hurt me," Akane spoke softly. "You took my engagement to Ranma and you used it as a weapon against me. You made me believe you actually loved him. You made him believe it. You played with our emotions and twisted our hearts, just so you could make a tidy profit selling him to his other fiancées."

"That's not true," Nabiki insisted. "I always meant to drive him back to you. I wanted you…not you. I wanted Akane to realize the feelings she had for him!"

"If saying that helps you sleep at night, Nabiki, then I guess good for you." Bitterly, Akane looked away from her sister. "We should have known better. You don't even know what love means. You're not capable of it."

"Of course she isn't," a third voice filled the cave. It was a voice she knew, though not as well as she would have liked. "Even when she wants to be." A new man was standing within the cave, dressed in fine attire with unruly dark hair. A puppet of a butler rested on his arm, hunched over and obedient to its master. His very presence in the cave made her legs shake.

"Kinnosuke?"

"I do wonder one thing. Does the ten yen comfort you when you're alone at night? Does knowing you won take back the sting of what you could have had? Or does it simply make the loneliness that much more bitter?"

"I did what I HAD TO DO," Nabiki yelled at the cave.

"I'm sure you did," Kinnosuke turned away from her. "And I'm sure it's just coincidence that once again, Nabiki Tendo came out on top, at the expense of others she claimed to care about." He disappeared into the mists of the cave with that, leaving Nabiki with Akane and Ranma.

A single tear struck the rock beneath Nabiki's feet. Seeing Kinnosuke again had stirred up so many things she would rather leave buried. While it's true, she was good at playing her emotions like a weapon, and much of her feelings for him had been exaggerated to a dagger's edge, there had still been something there. Perhaps, under different circumstances, something could have bloomed between her and the King of Poverty. But fate had not been kind, and ultimately she had won their challenge and left him crushed beneath the weight of responsibility for one billion yen. She never did find out what became of him after that.

"You said you loved him," Akane resumed. "You told us to our faces. But you never truly did. You used him the way you use everyone else around you, you destroyed his life, and came out clean."

"I had to," Nabiki's legs trembled, and she pressed her back against the wall to hold herself up. "If I didn't, he would have destroyed our family."

"Since when do you care," Akane struck bitterly. "What are we to you, Nabiki? You treat us like resources. Did you get defensive of us because you care about us, or simply because you don't like having something that belongs to you taken away?"

"That's not true."

"You certainly don't love us as a family. You violate my privacy whenever it's convenient for your own selfish, personal gain. You sell compromising photos of my AND Ranma's bodies for cash, without a single shred of remorse. You were excited about the prospects of hooking up with Ranma when you first heard about him, but you pushed him off on me DESPITE my protests as soon as you found out about his curse. What's wrong, Nabiki? A gender-changing pervert isn't good for business?!"

Nabiki was starting to lose ground. She didn't know how much longer she could carry this, and the more she argued, the more the phantom Akane had to throw at her. "That's not what it was about."

"No? I was MISERABLE when you forced me to get engaged to Ranma. It took a year for me to grow into him, while you just sat in your room and schemed ways to keep me with him so the burden of responsibility wouldn't fall to you. You screwed with my life just so that you wouldn't have to risk complications in yours. Well, mission accomplished, Nabiki. If you hadn't done that, maybe you'd be the one lying on a tray right now, not me. Nabiki Tendo thrives again while others suffer in her wake."

The final blow was struck. Nabiki felt her knees buckle. Felt her back slide slowly down the wall. Hot, stinging tears rose to her eyes, and she closed them tight in a vain attempt to dissuade her own fears. "I…"

"What now, Nabiki? What excuses did you make this time?"

"…I'm…sorry…." The words were strange and alien to her lips, and they left a bitter aftertaste.

"You really are," the phantom Ranma spoke up. "Do you really think, after everything you've done to me, everything you've done to Akane, that we could forgive you? You're a monster, Nabiki, a dishonorable, selfish, malicious creature and you deserve whatever happens to you down here. You came here to rub it in my face when I found out the island didn't exist, and now you're going to die down here. And you know what's the kicker? There's not a single person that will grieve for you."

********************

"Pig-Tailed Girl! Nabiki! Where could these maidens be?" After losing both girls inside the cave, Kuno had been hesitant to enter. But when neither returned, bravado got the better of him. His Pig-Tailed Girl may be in danger! She may need his help! And maybe Nabiki, but more importantly, he had to save the Pig-Tailed Girl!

With bokken in hand, Kuno raced straight ahead into the mists within the cave, desperate to find his crimson-haired maiden. It wasn't long before a figure emerged from the fog, slowly taking form. Short, red hair, pigtails…aha! It was her!

"Pig-Tailed Girl, I have come for you!" Kuno threw himself at his beloved, arms wide open, but she moved quickly out of his grasp and he fell to the cavernous floor with a thud. Picking himself up off the floor, he looked back at his maiden and grinned. "It has been too long since we have been alone together, away from the horrid influence of the mercenary Nabiki Tendo. Come, my love, and we shall traverse the very stars with our—"

"Cease, Tatewaki," the Pig-Tailed Girl scolded. "I know the truth of your falsehoods. I know your heart does me ill. Your love is unfaithful to me, and in this deception, you would do me harm."

"It is not so, my beloved," Kuno went down to a single knee, arms spread for his goddess. "Your beauty gives me hope and inspires me to greatness, and there could be no other but you, my sweet."

"Then what of me?" Akane Tendo entered behind Kuno. "Do you so scorn my love, Tatewaki, that you would cast me aside for a maiden new? Does my love mean so little on the stage of our passion?"

"Fair Akane Tendo," Kuno turned quickly away from the Pig-Tailed Girl, towards his other love. "I could never turn away your strong, inspiring presence. You are the sun for which I rise, and to be with you each day makes my heart soar with the wings of an eagle."

"Then you turn me away," the Pig-Tailed Girl turned to go. "It is best, my love, that we must part, for never could we be." She placed her right hand over her forehead while her left drifted out back towards Kuno. "Our love lies tangled in the web of denial, our souls left drifting on the seas of misguided lies, refusing to drift apart but unable to come together. Woe, be our fate if this illicit love of ours, between the hearts of true love, should come."

"Never, my dearest," Kuno was back to the Pig-Tailed Girl. "Though our love may shake the heavens with the passion of our hearts, never must we be made to part!"

"Then with me, you choose to part," Akane returned. "A choice must be made, though difficult it's sure to be."

"I choose both!" Kuno announced to the cave. "Why must a man be made to surrender the passion of his heart? Why should misfortune strike those who dare to love unbridled, and to let their desires wander to all deserving of their warmth?! Let it stand that no love is unjust, if true that love should be!"

"OHOHOHOHOHO!!!"

"I choose you not, sister," Kuno spoke without pause.

"And yet you choose, dear brother, by your refusal to make a choice." Kodachi stood ahead, blocking the tunnels. "Weakness is a quality unbefitting of a samurai."

"Is it weakness to refuse to chain one's love to the shackles of convention?"

"It is weakness to hide behind a pillar of lust and proclaim it virtue! Even I have chosen my man, and I have chosen but one."

"You have chosen that wretched Saotome," Kuno attacked. "You would proclaim honor in being bewitched by the enchantments of a sorcerer?"

"But do you not stand bewitched by the same," Kodachi countered. "Your Pig-Tailed Girl is his adoring puppet, you know this to be true. Try though you may to separate her, to liberate her of his evil presence, it is still to his side and to his bed that she runs, and never to your own. Perhaps she is a weapon that Saotome uses to undermine and destroy our proud family."

"This cannot be," Kuno insisted. "I refuse to accept it! There is nothing wrong with the Pig-Tailed Girl; do not presume malice of the tender virtues found in a young maiden's heart!"

A predatory grin spread across Kodachi's face. "Accept it you may not, but to know its truth, you cannot deny. An enigma, the Pig-Tailed Girl remains. One you do not understand. Know you even her name? Has even that much been volunteered by the elusive creature?"

"Ranma Saotome was the name she used," Kuno replied. It had been given once, during her match with Kodachi. "Though I know not the depth of her connection with the vile sorcerer, it is certainly a sign of his power over her."

"His power over her?" Kodachi questioned. "Or the extent of her devotion to him?"

That question took Kuno aback. He stumbled, only for a second, but it was enough to give away his uncertainty. Steeling himself against Kodachi once more, he responded. "If there be truth in what you speak, then I shall see it for my own. But I will not judge the Pig-Tailed Girl on the slings and arrows you would spread. Let her virtues be revealed for all to see, and then may she be judged according. I have faith that she will land on the side of angels, when all has been laid bare."

********************

"Ranma abandon Shampoo," the Chinese girl accused. "He no care if Shampoo exiled forever. Responsibility mean nothing to husband."

"What about me, Ranchan?" Ukyo stepped forward, towards Ranma. "We've been betrothed longer than you've even known the Tendos existed. You were my best friend. Are you just going to turn your back on me?"

"Shampoo, Ucchan…" Ranma fought for words for just a second, before she shook it off. "No. You're not. You're just another lie from the cave."

"That's it? That's all you have for me?" Ukyo took a step back, hurt. "Did our time together mean nothing to you, Ranma? Is that what this is? Do you really hate me that much?"

But the martial artist would not be swayed. "No. I don't hate you, or Shampoo, or Akane. I don't even hate Kodachi, as much as I can't stand being around her. But I'm not having this conversation with you, because you're not really here. You're just another lie, trying to keep me from the top." Without another word, she turned back to his climb. The ascent had turned steep, and now there was only a wall leading up. She could swear there was a light at the top. Testing the weight of the rocks on the wall, Ranma picked her right foot up and stepped down gently on an outcropping. Once she was sure it would hold her, she started her ascent.

"And what about me, huh?!" Akane screamed from behind. "You're just going to leave me here?! Ranma, don't you DARE abandon me down here!" Her words were lost on Ranma as he scaled higher, until she was certain he could see the light of day. "RANMA, YOU JERK!!! COME BACK!!! DON'T YOU LEAVE ME!!!" This was the last she heard from the cave's Akane, as she breached the surface and came out into the light.

Climbing out of the dark, Ranma found herself in a brilliantly illuminated meadow, standing on the mesa at the top of the island. Flowers bloomed in the grass everywhere she looked, and to the north stood a set of columns, holding up a circular roof over a cement landing. But the most curious thing of all was the light, shining down from directly above as though it were high noon. When Ranma looked out over the side of the island, it was still as dark as night, and it seemed to be raining buckets everywhere but in this bright, sunny meadow.

Stepping forward, Ranma looked to the landing. There stood a woman, dressed in a simple, yellow dress running down to her knees. There were no sleeves on her attire, and she could swear she was staring straight at her, but for the blindfold that covered her eyes. As Ranma studied her, the blindfolded woman began to walk towards her, and that was when she knew; the woman knew she was there.

"Ranma Saotome," the woman spoke in a voice that felt like the siren's song of the heavens. "I have been expecting you."

"I, uh…" Ranma rubbed the back of her head. "I hope I'm not late or nothing."

"No," the woman replied. "You arrive exactly when I knew you would. No sooner, no later. Welcome to Delphi, Ranma. I am the Oracle of Apollo, and I know of what you seek. But before I can give you the answers to your questions, there is first a question that you must answer."

"What's that?"

"You have seen the horrors of the Cave of Doubts for yourself. It is by the strength of your courage and the determination in your heart that you were able to overcome the temptations of despair, and it is that strength which brought you here. The Cave is a test for all who would seek an audience with myself, and it is few strong enough to push forward in spite of the barbs of their own uncertainties. Everything you saw within the cave stems from a piece of your soul, a fear or insecurity that you have repressed. It is rare to meet a man strong enough to push forward in spite of himself, and for that, I applaud you."

Clearing her throat, she continued. "Your companions are not so fortunate. One may yet be strong enough to escape the clutches of the cave, if only by strength of personality if not by any particular virtue. But the other is lost. The cave will soon claim your companion as its own. Such is the dangers inherent in this trial."

"Which one?" Ranma asked.

"Does it matter? Your companions have need of you. You, who are strong enough to push through the temptations of the cave, are a possible hope for one and the only hope for another. But know that every choice we make, every action that we decide upon, carries consequence farther into the future than most of us can see. Stand warned, Ranma Saotome. You stand upon a crossroad, and the fate of your quest, your companions, and of Akane Tendo hangs on your decision here today."

"I wouldn't really call them 'companions'," Ranma defended.

To this, the Oracle merely smiled. "It would be easier if you could, would it not? It would make your choice so much easier. Down the one road, you turn away from this place. Enter into the Cave of Doubts and find your lost companions. Their lives hang on your shoulders, for only you have the power to save them now. But do so knowing that in this act, you forfeit your audience with me. If you leave now, I will not give you the answers that you desire, and you will never save Akane. Or you can stay with me, and I will tell you everything. I will tell you of the truth behind your life. I will tell you of the secrets of the Tendo blood. I will show you where you may find the means to restore your love, and I shall name the murderer, here and now before the eyes of Apollo, under the glow of Helios, that you may know the truth that set you on this path. But if you choose to remain, you leave your companions to their fate. They will fall into the depths of the Cave of Doubts, their lives forfeit to this island, and their souls condemned to forever walk the Mists of Despair, to never know a moment's solace again."

The Oracle's words hit Ranma harder than any martial artist ever had. As her mind raced to consider the options she was suggesting, she posed her question. "How far will you go for the sake of your love? How much are you willing to sacrifice to your question, Ranma Saotome? How much blood will you pay to have her back? Make your choice now, and declare it before Apollo. But know that every moment you languish here, your chances of saving them slips farther and farther away."

* * *

Edit: fixed a truant gender pronoun in the final scene.


	5. Chapter 5: The Island of Bitter Fears

**Chapter Five: The Island of Bitter Fears**

It wasn't a hard choice. If you were to ask her, Ranma would say there was no choice at all. Kuno was a lunatic that seemed to exist solely to make her life harder, and Nabiki, though she had her moments, had by and large caused her nothing but stress and frustration with her scheming. Even so, she couldn't just leave them to die in the Cave of Doubts. She would never be able to look herself in the mirror again, and Akane would never forgive her if she let her sister die.

But for Akane…a small part of her wondered if any price was too high to pay to save her. Ranma had fought for her so many times. She'd been ready to die for her. She was ready to kill for her, that day on Mt. Phoenix. But to permit the deaths of people who were trying to help, people that loved her in their own ways…to sacrifice their lives was, perhaps, the line she could not cross. The line she never knew she'd ever have to face.

Looking at the Oracle, Ranma's voice was soft and reserved. "You already know what I'm going to say, don't you?" To this, the Oracle merely nodded her head, and Ranma started to get angry. "Then what was the point? Why bring me here if you're just going to turn me away at the door?! Why even ask me to make a choice, if you already know what I'm going to do?!"

"Because your choice remains your own," the Oracle replied. "If I told you what you would do, it would deprive you of making that choice for yourself. In the months to come, you will remember everything that ran through your head tonight. The decisions we make and the actions we take ripple far beyond our understanding. One day, you will understand the weight of the choices you have made here today. But for today, you understand only the necessity of making them."

Swallowing hard, Ranma had but one last question for the Oracle, before she returned to the cave. "Is there any other way? If I walk away now, is there any chance to save Akane?"

"The path you tread will be hard and treacherous. The challenges you face may be more than you can bear. Four must you find, hand selected by Olympus to serve as your guides. One is here, on this very island. I will show you the way you must travel."

"You said you wouldn't help me."

"I said I would not give you the answers you desire. And I will not. But I will show you the way, that you may find the questions for yourself." There was so much more she wanted to ask her, but time grew short and she knew the urgency of what she had warned before. The longer she languished here, the farther Kuno and…possibly Nabiki became. "Your companions have need of you. If they are your choice, then go, before it becomes too late and you lose everything."

********************

"Dear brother, how can you be so blind to what stands plain before your eyes? Somewhere inside, the truth screams for revelation. Yet you stand with your feet planted firmly against the seas of uncomfortable truth, and wallow in the despair of a comfortable lie."

"I know not what you speak, sister, but never the less, you will stay your wretched tongue." With bokken drawn, Kuno faced his venomous sister, Kodachi. "I shall not allow you to speak thusly of the women whose hearts have been entrusted to my care."

"Yet even now," Kodachi countered, "your precious Pig-Tailed Girl abandons you. As always, she takes her comfort of you for only a moment, and her leave of you immediately thereafter. Her affections never center on you for long, they are always to her master, to Ranma Saotome."

With a glance over his shoulder, Kuno could see that Kodachi was right; Akane and the Pig-Tailed Girl had both vanished into the mists of the cave. Returning his focus immediately to Kodachi, he snarled. "Where have you taken them, treacherous sister of mine?"

"They have left of their own accord," Kodachi answered. "As always, they do. Never more than a moment's fancy do they bestow upon you, dear brother. No matter how hard you work, no matter how many poems you write, no matter how earnestly you fight, their love shall never shine down upon your face. They are lost to you, brother, and all you can do is despair for a love that shall never be."

"You are wrong," Kuno spoke directly, swallowing hard. "I know not what falsehood you speak, sister, but I shall not listen to it. Your words hold no sway over me."

"Reason holds no sway over you, Kuno," Ranma Saotome spoke from beside Kodachi, stepping out from the mists. "Never shall Akane and the Pig-Tailed Girl find their solace in your arms, for it is under my power that their wills are drawn." As he spoke, both girls emerged from the mists once more, their arms embraced lovingly around the foul sorcerer. "You cannot protect your women, Kuno. You are a failure as a samurai."

"Never, Saotome!" Drawing his bokken, rage burning in his eyes, Kuno faced the evil warlock. "Never shall I accept your hold over the Pig-Tailed Girl and Akane Tendo! I will destroy you if it is the last thing I do in this mortal world, and upon my gravestone it shall be inscribed, Tatewaki Kuno, Saviour of Women! STRIKESTRIKESTRIKESTRIKESTRIKE!!!"

His bokken blazed in a flurry of rapid-fire strikes, all centered on Ranma's chest, but none connected. Indeed, as he struck, both Ranma and the women faded into the mists, leaving him confused and a little dazed. "Come back here, you coward!"

********************

Elsewhere in the Cave of Doubts, Ranma found the first of what he was looking for. Nabiki sat, crumpled in a heap against the jagged wall of the cave. She wouldn't speak. She wouldn't move. She just lay there, and for a second, Ranma thought she was too late. "Hey, Nabiki…are you okay?"

A second passed with no answer. And another. And another still. But finally, she heard her voice, cracked and strained, but alive. "Ranma?"

"Yeah," Ranma offered. "It's me. Come on, we need to get you out of here. This place is…everything's wrong here. We need to get you to the surface."

"You shouldn't have come back," Nabiki choked out, through broken breath. "Did you find the Oracle you were looking for?"

"Yeah," Ranma sighed. "She made me choose between finding out how to save Akane, and coming back to help you and Kuno. I couldn't just leave you two to die down here."

"So you failed," Nabiki's voice grew dimmer. "This whole thing was for nothing."

"No!" Ranma insisted. "There is still a way, and when we get up there, she'll help us find it. You have to listen to me, it's not over yet."

"What's the point? You'll just screw that up too," Nabiki accused. "It's what you're good at. Ranma Saotome gets involved and makes a bad situation worse. I was a fool to trust you."

"Nabiki—"

"How could you do it, Ranma? How could you throw Akane away like that? I thought you loved her, but I guess you really are just a stupid, selfish jerk after all."

"Wait a minute," Ranma narrowed her eyes.

"We're all going to die down here, and it's your—hey, what are you—"

Ranma waved her hand through Nabiki; it touched nothing but air, and the disruption caused her image to fade away, returning to the mists from whence it came. Ranma stood, staring down at the spot where she had lay. After a moment, she muttered, "I hate this place," before returning to her search.

********************

"Please. Just…stop," Nabiki tried again, but the Ranma that stood before her was relentless.

"You violate your family and you…well, you don't do anything to your friends because you don't actually have any friends. In a house full of people, you live alone because you won't let anyone in. You're so afraid of being hurt again that you strike out at them first. It's no wonder you don't have friends; who would even look at a selfish, greedy bitch like you?"

"I…I have friends—"

"No, you have employees: people to help run your betting gigs whenever I fight someone. You don't have anyone you can confide in; anyone who would come to pick you up when you're feeling down, who would help give you a hand when you need it. You don't have that, because you're an evil, money-grubbing creature that would rather surround herself with yen than people. Even your family can't stand you."

Nabiki didn't even know that she had the strength left to challenge Ranma's accusations. And when she heard her father's voice, she wished she could just close her eyes and shut it out. "You don't know how many times I've wished that you could just be like your sisters, Nabiki. I've tried very hard to be patient with you. I've tried to believe that, if we gave you enough time, you would come around on your own. I thought maybe, just maybe, there was a spark of something worth loving in you. But time after time, you've proven me wrong. Maybe you are just an evil child."

"Daddy…."

"I'm sorry, Nabiki. I've tried so hard to love you. The only consolation I have left is that your mother didn't have to see you like this. To know what you've become would break her heart. She still believed, when she passed, that you were worth loving. I know better now. You're not a part of this family and you haven't been for a very long time. My middle daughter died with my wife. You're just a demon, using her body for your own sick purpose."

"You still have me, Father," Kasumi touched her father's arm. "Akane's gone, and Nabiki's a lie. But I'm still here."

"Thank you, Kasumi," Soun breathed in relief. "You're the only thing left to carry me through this."

********************

"Return, Saotome, and face the justice of Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" Kuno readied his bokken at the mists, prepared for the attack from whatever direction it may come.

"You are a fool," Saotome's voice echoed in the dark. "Never before have you been able to hold your sword to me. What, perchance, suggests that such events have changed?"

"I shall not permit your control over the minds of Akane Tendo and the Pig-Tailed Girl to persist, Saotome! I shall bring you to justice this day, so I, Tatewaki Kuno, do swear!"

"…well, isn't this something," the Pig-Tailed Girl spoke once more, appearing from the mists to Kuno's right.

"Pig-Tailed Girl, stay close to me," Kuno maneuvered around, putting her to his back. "I shall protect you from—" A solid kick from the pig-tailed girl sent Kuno lurching over, faceplanting hard into the rocky ground below.

"Huh. Guess this one's real."

Kuno was back on his feet in an instance, his arms embracing his Pig-Tailed Girl tightly. "Together, my love, we shall conquer that wretch—" Kuno's insistence was interrupted by a fist, very poignantly embedded in his face.

"You see, Kuno?" Ranma spoke again. "Never shall she love you. Never shall she want you. She belongs to me, body, and soul, and never more will you be able to—"

"Oh, shut up!" the Pig-Tailed Girl shouted into the mists. "I don't even talk like that! Kuno, listen to me, you need to shut these things out and just move on ahead. Up the tunnels about thirty yards, you'll find a turn. Take a right and follow it to the end, and there'll be a hole up at the top. Climb through there and you'll be out of here."

"Surely you jest," Kuno insisted. "The wretch Ranma Saotome is here in this cave, and I shall not rest until I have brought him to justice and saved you from his—"

"He's through the hole," the Pig-Tailed Girl answered. "He's, um…everything you see down here is an illusion created by him! He's actually up through the hole, so if you go there, you should find him."

"Saotome!" Raising his bokken offensively, Kuno charged into the mists.

The Pig-Tailed Girl called back to him, as he ran. "Remember! Turn right at the opening, follow it to the end, and climb through the hole! Pay no attention to any of Saotome's evil spirits in the cave!" She watched him go for only a couple moments, before sighing. "That was simple enough."

********************

It wasn't long before Ranma found Nabiki again. She'd run into about four of them, however, and the first thing she did was touch her, just to be certain. A light brush on her shoulder, to make sure she was real, and then she was on the ground with her. "Nabiki, you okay?"

"Go away," Nabiki mumbled.

"Nabiki, you have to listen to me—"

"Why?!" Lifting her head off her knees, she looked at Ranma. The very sight of her face startled the redhead; she had rarely seen Nabiki show emotion before Akane died, and this…her face was stained with tears, and her eyes…the only time she'd ever seen eyes like that was during Ryoga's Shi Shi Hokodan. It terrified her. "What do you want this time, Ranma?" Turning her head back down, she continued her accusations. "Is this the one about how it's my fault mom died, this time? Or how everyone hates me? Or how my family hopes I won't come back? Which is it this time?!"

Ranma wasn't sure how to answer. She'd thought if anyone could get through the cave more or less intact, it'd be Nabiki. Looking at her now, she seemed vulnerable in a way she never had before. This cave had done something terrible to her, and the truth of the Oracle's words hit Ranma like a brick; if she hadn't come back, this place would have swallowed Nabiki whole.

"We have to get out of here, Nabiki," Ranma tried. "This place does things to people. I know people have spoken to you. I don't know what they've told you, but I'm sure it's bad. But it's not real. It's just the cave, and as soon as we're out of here, they'll go away."

"Just go," Nabiki spoke through a tired and strained voice. "Just leave me here and go."

Grabbing her by both arms, Ranma shook her just a little, trying to shake her out of the funk this place had put her in. "Listen to me, Nabiki. You're tougher than this, and a hell of a lot smarter. These things you've seen, they're not real. They're just…" How had the Oracle explained it? "They're fears. Fears with voices. But they aren't real, they're just stuff you're afraid of. You don't have to listen to them."

"What if they're right?"

"Come on, Nabiki! Look at me." Nabiki's head refused to move. "Nabiki, please, just look at me." Still, no response. "So that's it? You're giving up?" Nothing. "You're better than this. You're stronger than this. You're Nabiki Tendo, the Ice Queen of Furinkan High! Are you going to let some stupid ghosts talk to you like this?!"

"Smooth one, boy," Ranma's father condescended behind him, while Nabiki only seemed to slip farther away. "Really touched a nerve on that one."

"Is that…" Nabiki choked out. "…is that all I am? The Ice Queen?"

Behind Ranma, her father spoke again. "You see? Even when he tries to help, Ranma admits the truth. You're empty, Nabiki. A cold, heartless witch is all you'll ever be."

Ranma glared at the image of Soun for just a second, before turning his eyes back to Nabiki. "That what this is about? You think you're heartless?"

Nabiki still couldn't bring herself to look at him. "Ranma, don't. You said it yourself. I'm the Ice Queen. That's all I'll ever be."

"That isn't you talking, Nabiki. It's them. The stuff in the cave."

"She's not listening, boy," Genma laughed. "She's lost to you. First you abandoned Ukyo, then you lost Akane, and now Nabiki's going too. At least you're consistent. The one thing you're good at is letting your women down."

"SHUT UP, Pops," Ranma lashed out. Refusing to take her arms away from Nabiki for fear of where she could disappear to if she did, Ranma instead let out a strong back kick, striking the illusion and causing it to dissipate into the mists. "I don't have to listen to this crap, and neither do you, Nabiki. Now come on, we're getting out of here, and then everything will be better."

"I shouldn't have come," Nabiki whispered quietly.

"Okay, that's it! You're coming with me right now, Nabiki, whether you want to or not. I'm not listening to this crap and you shouldn't either, because it's stupid! You wouldn't BE here if you didn't care about people, Nabiki. You came here because you wanted to help Akane, remember?"

"I came to prove you wrong," Nabiki corrected.

"No, you didn't. You decided you were coming along before you bothered to research Delphi, and you stuck with that decision. It wasn't about proving me wrong, it was about that slim chance that we could get Akane back. You came because you love your sister, and that means you aren't just a heartless witch like the stupid ghost says."

"…Ranma?"

"Don't listen to this tripe," Soun attacked. "He doesn't know what he's talking about. He's barely even known you a year, Nabiki; I've been your father for your entire life. I know the disappointment of—"

"Give it a rest already," Ranma groaned. "Nabiki, would your dad really be talking to you like that? You really think he hates you that much? Yeah, okay, you can really grate people sometimes, and you have a bad habit of extorting money out of people close to you. But he's your POP. He couldn't love you more if you…I don't know, dressed up as something cute and loveable?" She sighed. "Okay, I kinda derailed my train of thought there, but the point is, your dad loves you, your sisters love you, and this whole stupid cave is just feeding you crap. But you can fight it. I can't fight it for you; you gotta do this yourself."

"Now you listen here, Nabiki," her father stepped closer to her and Ranma. "I am your father and you will do as I say. Now—"

Turning her gaze up to her father, Nabiki's eyes hardened. "Daddy, shut up."

"What?! Nabiki, how could you—"

"That's the spirit," Ranma smiled. Standing up, she pulled just lightly enough on her arms to encourage her. "Stand up. I know the way out of here, and then we can get what the Oracle's still willing to give us and get the hell out of here."

"Yeah." Nabiki swallowed a moment, then slowly, steadily, let her legs lift her up. Sliding her back up along the rocky wall behind her, she stretched out her knees fully before lifting her torso. Looking straight at Ranma and not at anything else, she drew a deep breath. "Let's go."

"Remember," Ranma told her. "If anything else comes out of the mist, just don't listen."

********************

Holding Nabiki's wrist to keep from getting separated, Ranma lead her back to the hole leading up to the surface. Nabiki went up first, while Ranma lingered behind with the spirit of her mother, Nodoka. She was prattling something about not being enough of a man to save Akane, or something like that. To be honest, she wasn't really listening.

Once Nabiki was through, Ranma climbed up herself. Stepping back out into the grassy clearing, under the mysterious sun that shone above them despite the ocean outside the island being shrouded in rain and night, Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. The Cave of Doubts was conquered, and now she just needed to go track down that Oracle and see what she meant about guiding them where they needed to be.

Looking around, she saw Kuno, seated cross-legged on the grass. She was about to approach him, when Nabiki grabbed her wrist. "Ranma…listen…." Ranma turned to face Nabiki, and saw that the mask still hadn't come back up. There was something soft in her eyes. Something…almost gentle. It scared her a little; this wasn't the Nabiki she was used to.

"Look, Ranma, I'm…" Nabiki took a deep breath. Swallowing hard, she tried again. "Ranma, I…."

The voice echoed in her mind; she couldn't shut it out. "Do you really think, after everything you've done to me, everything you've done to Akane, that we could ever forgive you? You're a monster, Nabiki."

"Nabiki?" Ranma asked, confused.

"Nothing," Nabiki pulled away. Her face hardened, the glimmer in her eyes turning to cold stone, and the Ice Queen was back. "It's nothing."


	6. Chapter 6: The Island of Purpose

**Chapter Six: The Island of Purpose  
**

It didn't take long to find Kuno. Once the Pig-Tailed Girl and Nabiki were topside, Kuno found them. Hurling himself through the air at Ranma, arms wide, he received a strong boot to the face that floored him. Grabbing him by the collar of his keikogi, Ranma dragged him up the hill towards the old structure she'd seen there before.

"So this is where we're supposed to meet the Oracle?" Nabiki asked. Ranma stopped a moment, looking back at her. She was doing everything in her power to conceal what happened in the Cave of Doubts from her face, but Ranma could tell she was more shaken than she was willing to let on. But not knowing what to do, she decided just to drop it.

"Sort of," Ranma admitted. "The Oracle told me she wouldn't give us the answers we were looking for if I helped you, but she did sort of imply that she was still going to help us."

"Great," Nabiki grumbled. "So she's messing with us."

"What?"

"Nothing," Nabiki sighed. Steeling her eyes, she marched towards the structure near the top. She recognized the architecture as Grecian, which only raised more questions this far out into the Pacific. Questions she was going to have answered; she did not come all this way, suffer through that stupid cave, to leave empty-handed.

As the three rounded the top of the hill, Ranma dropped Kuno. The circular landing was ringed in bronze, with twelve columns standing at regularly spaced intervals, holding up the domed roof. Inside, the Oracle stood before a small, wooden chair. To the side of the chair, a bronze stand upheld a small bowl. Several sticks and chunks of wood sat in the bowl, burning with a flame that seemed to dance and flicker with every step.

Nabiki wasn't sure what she was expecting, but for the Oracle to simply stand there, watching them approach, unnerved her in a subtle way. There was something about her eyes, covered with the blindfold yet still locked immovably on their group that seemed to indicate something greater beneath the frail and unimposing shell she presented.

"You're back," the Oracle spoke bluntly. "I see that you were successful."

"Yeah," Ranma scratched the back of her head. "Took some doing, though."

"Your challenges have only just begun," The Oracle's mouth stretched wide into a malevolent grin. "The quest upon which you set out is one that has been walked by many a man. Few have ever returned alive and fewer still have succeeded. Select few hands have ever been laid upon the Golden Fleece of legend. King Aeetes of Colchis, King Jason of Iolcus, Commander Lucius Achaicus. These are names etched into the course of history, names that have been graced by the presence and the power of the Fleece."

"The Golden Fleece?" Ranma was as curious as Nabiki was skeptical. They'd come here seeking a means but this was the first time a name had been put to it.

"The Fleece is power. It is status. It is absolution. Borne into the world on the back of a ram gifted to Nephele from her secret lover Zeus and skinned from the ram by her son Phrixus, the Fleece is but one of many old signatures of Olympus remaining in the world of man. The man who controls the Fleece has power unrivaled in this world. Power to conquer. Power to destroy. Power to create. And, most important to your goal, power to take back that which you desire, even from the very depths of the Underworld itself."

This time was Nabiki's turn to speak up. Suspicion and no small amount of frustration were evident in her voice as she turned on the Oracle. "You know where it is, don't you?"

"Yes. I do."

"And you won't tell us, will you?"

"That is a choice that Ranma made for himself."

Nabiki scoffed. "So, you're supposed to know everything right? Then you already knew the choice he was going to make the moment you presented it to him. You knew he was going to come back for us and never had any intention of helping us. Is that true?"

The Oracle only smiled. "Nabiki Tendo. You understand much, yet you believe you understand more. That I know the outcome of the choices you make does not mean that I make them for you. Every decision that we make has repercussions far beyond this day. Every choice defines who we are, by which the future is shaped. Ranma was presented with two paths, each with its own outcome, and he has chosen his."

"Then what's the point? Why do we need to go out of our way if you still want us to find this thing?"

The Oracle smiled this time, with a warmth and fondness that unsettled Nabiki's frustration. "Because knowledge given is not the same as knowledge earned. It is brief and fleeting, and lasts no longer than the moment. I do not wish you to find the Golden Fleece, Nabiki. I serve only the future."

"Alright then," Nabiki was starting to cool down. "Then as a show of good faith, how about clearing something up for me?"

"You wish to know of Delphi," the Oracle responded.

"Yeah. Now, I was told Delphi's a city in Greece. You say Delphi's an island in the middle of the Pacific, and I still don't know how we actually got here."

"It is true," the Oracle admitted. "For centuries, we served our lord Apollo in the city of Delphi, in Greece. We continued to serve there until the day when Colchis fell, and Rome laid claim to our lands. Knowing that our ways would not be safe in the hands of foreigners, Lord Apollo enchanted this rock to be forever lost in the oceans. The only way to find it is to lose yourself in Poseidon's waters and follow your heart to our shore, as Ranma did these past weeks."

"But it's not Delphi," Nabiki responded.

"Is it not? Delphi is the land of the Oracle of Apollo. It is the site of Apollo's grace. Though our location may change, its purpose remains the same. "

"Hmm…" Nabiki stepped back, considering. Perhaps Ranma had been right the whole time they were at sea. She'd given him so much grief over it, too.

"Your companion is coming around," the Oracle gestured at the blue-clad heap on the ground. "We shall adjourn for this moment, and resume when he has woken. This is not merely Ranma's journey, nor is it yours. The future concerns all of you."

With this, the Oracle dismissed the three travelers, and took a seat in the chair, to watch the flames in the bowl dance. Her full focus seemed locked upon the flames, and once again Nabiki had the unnerving feeling that she could see even through the blindfold. She seemed to react very strongly to visual stimulation that should not be possible with a cloth so thick.

* * *

Dragging Kuno just down the hill a ways, Ranma looked at Nabiki. "I think she's real," Ranma admitted. "She seems to know a lot, and she knew all of us before we even started talking."

Kuno's eyes slid open slowly and he blinked, adjusting to the blurry sight of the two women above him. "What place is this now?"

"Delphi, Kuno-baby," Nabiki responded offhand. "We're…." She looked across, to Ranma. "I think we should tell him."

Ranma was struck with discomfort. They'd made it this far without revealing the painful truth to Kuno, but the Oracle would almost certainly make mention of it at some point. She already had once. Studying Kuno with her azure eyes, she took a deep breath, and then sighed. "I'll do it."

"You sure? I might be able to—"

"No," Ranma insisted. "It's Akane. I have to do it."

"Ranma…." Nabiki wasn't sure what to say.

"Look, when I was down in that cave, those ghost things said a lot of stuff. But they weren't far off with some of it. I've been running away from what happened because I didn't want to face it. We are going to save Akane, but that don't change what happened. I gotta do this. Not just for Akane or for Kuno. I have to hear myself say it."

Kneeling down, Ranma looked at Kuno. "Listen, Kuno…."

Kuno immediately grasped Ranma's left hand, squeezing it tightly between his. "You need speak no words, beauteous Pig-Tailed Girl. That you would declare your love for me here and now fills my heart with—"

Ranma's right hand found a home in Kuno's face, before she pulled her left free. "That's NOT what I was going to say."

Kuno responded simply by grabbing Ranma's head and pulling it close to his chest, cradling and stroking her hair. "We need no words between us, my love. Our—"

Pulling herself free with no small degree of effort and revulsion, Ranma grabbed Kuno's shoulders and looked him in the eyes, wanting to make sure he didn't pull anything else. "Look, Kuno, this is about Akane."

"You wish to speak of my love for the fair Akane Tendo," Kuno sighed. He'd gone over this conversation many times in his head. "True love is a firm and resolute ideal, that many are—"

"Kuno-baby, shut up for a second," Nabiki scolded.

"Look, Kuno," Ranma wasn't sure where to begin. "Something really bad happened to Akane back in Nerima. She was attacked by someone and…well, she…." Ranma stole a glance at Nabiki for just a second. Her eyes were resolute, and she nodded softly, ushering Ranma on. "Kuno…Akane's…she's dead."

A dread silence filled the air as Ranma's words floated around Kuno's head. His eyes blinked several times as he tried to process what his Pig-Tailed Girl was saying. After several seconds, he spoke, his voice slow, pained, and deliberate. "I do not understand. Why would you suggest such a tragedy?"

"Because it's true," Ranma insisted.

"The fair Akane Tendo is mighty indeed. She would not allow herself to be felled by any man!"

"She didn't 'allow herself', Kuno. It just happened."

"Why do you speak thusly?!" Kuno was getting frustrated. "Why would you—"

"It's true, Kuno-baby," Nabiki corroborated. "That's why we're here. We're looking for a way to get her back, and the Oracle says there is one. We're telling you now so you don't freak out if she brings it up. She's waiting for us to head back up, and then she's going to tell us what we need to do. Can you behave yourself?"

Ranma looked Kuno in the eyes as she spoke. "She isn't gone. Not for good. We're gonna get her back and everything's going to be like it was."

Kuno looked down at his legs for a moment, thinking. "If what you speak is true…then I shall cross the heavens and the earth for her!" Standing up firmly, he raised both hands in fists and turned his gaze to the sky, illuminated brilliantly by the surrogate sun above them. "No matter how far the journey, no matter how difficult the road may be, no matter how long the trail runs on, I—"

"Exactly how long is your speech gonna go on?" Ranma glared at him. "Come on, you idiot, we've got to talk to the Oracle."

* * *

"You return," the Oracle spoke as the trio reached her foundation once more. She looked to the left side of the group, addressing the kendo artist directly. "A hard truth can be one of the most difficult things to overcome, Tatewaki Kuno. You still do not believe entirely in what you have been told but you know that you cannot risk declaring falsehood only to learn that it is true, and that you could have done something had you been willing to take that chance. There are many lies and secrets that govern your road and you consistently choose to take the path of least resistance around them. But the day approaches when even your eyes will be forced to face the truth."

Kuno raised one eyebrow, curiously. "What is it that you speak of, strange blind woman?"

The Oracle merely smiled. "It is nothing. Three stand before me at the very start of their journey. The road ahead is long and perilous, but if you can learn to have faith in your abilities and in yourselves, you may yet prevail. The odds stand against you, but there is still hope." She looked to the center, to the red-headed girl before her. "Ranma Saotome," the name caused Kuno to wince and look around frantically, to no avail. "If it is answers you seek, then your first destination lies in Akiruno. Three things wait for you in Akiruno: an old friend, a new enemy, and a bitter rival. Find the distinction and seek to the very eye of combat itself, and you will find yourself two steps closer to your answers and to the Fleece."

"Akiruno?" Ranma questioned.

Nabiki fielded that question. "It's part of Tokyo, west of—"

"Oh, no, I know where Akiruno is," Ranma corrected. "Pops and I stopped there a couple of times when I was a kid. But there ain't a lot there that I can see helping out: a hospital, couple of schools, and it opens to the wilderness on the west side."

A repeat of "Seek the eye of combat," was the Oracle's only response, leaving Ranma to scratch his head quizzically.

"Alright," Ranma sighed. "I guess we'll figure out where to go once we get there."

"Stand warned," the Oracle's voice took a darker edge. "There are dangerous forces that will array themselves against you from the day you set foot in Akiruno. This, here and now, is the Point of No Return. If you go down this road, you will never be free from it again. The consequences of the choices you make here today will follow you to your grave."

"Yeah, what else is new," Ranma shrugged.

"There are four who will guide you on your quest. Each of the four stands under a star of Olympus, blessed by the gods who watch over this journey. You have already met these four once before. They set you on this journey, and each has chosen their champion. The first stands here on this very island." The Oracle gestured to a path, leading to the east, through the cliffs behind her structure. "Through here, you will find a small temple dedicated to our Lord Apollo, by whose grace and compassion you stand here today. Within that temple, you will find your first champion. May the light of Helios shine upon you."

* * *

The path ahead was thick with underbrush. It quickly became evident that no one had actually walked this way in quite some time. After a bit of puppy dog eyes, Ranma was able to get Kuno to go ahead first, using his bokken to break up the vines and branches that stretched across the small canyon. It was slow going, but better than trying to navigate the underbrush themselves.

"Did she creep you guys out too?" Ranma asked.

"Don't even get me started," Nabiki sighed. "First off, I don't know what that blindfold's for because she can clearly see, probably even better than we can. The way she answers questions before they're asked is completely unnerving, and a little bit irritating. She knows a lot more than she's telling us and she freely admits it. I don't like it. I feel…used."

Kuno scoffed, "Perhaps the great Nabiki Tendo simply does not like being the one who isn't holding all the cards, for once."

"That's not it at all," Nabiki gritted her teeth.

"I dunno," Ranma shrugged. "Kuno's got a point, and I can't believe those words just came out of my mouth. She makes you feel like you're not in control."

"Alright, fine," Nabiki looked away. "But there's still something wrong here. If she's supposed to know everything, then she already knows what she wants us to do. She isn't setting us up to do this just for the thrills. There's something bigger here."

Ranma was unconvinced. "Can't you just take it for what it is? She's trying to help us."

"No," Nabiki responded, "she isn't. She's trying to get us to do something, and she's pushing all the buttons that she knows will get us to. It's the perfect con: give us everything we want, tell us it can be ours, and then give us a vague set of instructions on how to go about it. And if she really can see the future, there's no limit to the complexity of the con she can set up."

"Or maybe she just wants to help us because we made it through that stupid cave."

"I don't buy it. People aren't that altruistic. They don't just give you stuff for free. What's in it for her?"

Raising his bokken and breaking down another set of branches before them, Kuno felt the need to interject. "If this is indeed a trap that we are walking into, then I, for one, shall enter it willingly. Perhaps the lady does mislead, but even still, is there any other option than to follow? If she speaks truth, this is the chance to save the fair Akane Tendo from her fate. And if she speaks falsehood, are we any worse off than if we chose to walk away now?"

Ranma and Nabiki both stopped walking and stared at Kuno for a few seconds. His words were as poetic as they were reckless and just a little bit stupid. But they weren't wrong. Nabiki swallowed hard, her hands brushing the remaining leaves and branches out of the way as she started following again. "I guess we don't have a choice. I still don't like it."

* * *

The Temple of Apollo was not as large and imposing as Ranma had pictured. It was a fairly small structure, standing twenty feet up at the top of a ten foot set of stairs. Carved in marble and with its large doors hanging open, just the slightest hint of bay laurel wafted out to greet the travelers. The interior was very simple, with four marble columns holding up the ceiling and a thin carpet leading to a statue in the back. The figure stood fifteen feet tall, his hair short and brusque. In one hand, he held a lyre close to his chest while the other lay outstretched towards the open door.

As the travelers entered, the doors suddenly thundered to a close behind them. Nabiki jumped at the sound, while Ranma and Kuno immediately whirled back towards the door, one falling into a martial stance, the other with bokken drawn. "This isn't good," Ranma muttered.

With the doors shut and no window in or out, the temple had become suddenly pitch black. "Trap?" Nabiki questioned the dark.

"The Oracle said we'd meet a guide here. I didn't see no guide coming in. Did you?"

"This hall stood empty," Kuno agreed. "We are alone."

As if in direct defiance of his statement, a small light suddenly breached the temple. A single golden ball of light hovered down from the ceiling, just slightly illuminating the area around it. Nabiki immediately backed away from it, putting Kuno and Ranma between herself and the strange, moving glow while Ranma studied it carefully.

"Welcome," a warm and comforting sound echoed in the temple. "Welcome to the island of Delphi. Welcome to my home."

At the sound of the voice, Ranma's tension turned to a wave of relief. "Hey, I remember you! You were in that alley that night. You're one of the little glowy balls that told me to come here!"

Nabiki blinked twice, then squinted her eyes at the little ball of light. Huh. Guess Ranma wasn't making these things up either.

"I am that," the ball responded, "and yet so much more." With these words, the ball retreated to the back of the temple, ascending into the air before lifting itself just before the statue's face. "I am the patron of this island. The spirit of love, of compassion, of poetry and so much more. I am the rider of the chariot which pulls the sun Helios across the sky." With these words, the light ball sank into the statue, its eyes suddenly springing open with a golden glow. A ball of golden energy appeared in his outstretched hand, brilliantly illuminating the temple. "I am Apollo, son of Zeus, brother to Artemis, god of Olympus."

"Apollo?" Kuno questioned. "Pig-Tailed Girl…you've been speaking with gods?"

Ranma was as flustered as Nabiki was confused. "I-I-I didn't know! They just showed up!"

Nabiki, ever watchful for a trick or con, wasn't entirely sure she bought it. "Hold up one second. If you're a god, and we can reasonably assume the other little faerie things Ranma saw are too, why would you suddenly take an interest in him? We all know what happened, but bad things happen to people every day. Do you turn up with a grand mystical quest for everyone who loses something dear to them? Because you sure didn't when mom…" She stopped there.

"You really are quite the untrusting one, aren't you?" Apollo asked. There was no malice or even frustration in his voice. In fact, the tone he took with her hit her harder than she'd been ready for. She was prepared to argue. She was prepared to fight. She was prepared for him to be upset at her breaking down his neat little game and have him start yelling, but this was something else.

His voice was sad, yet still kind. If anything, she could taste the bitter grain of pity. She wasn't entirely certain how to handle that. Clearing her throat, she answered, but there was an unsettling shake to her voice she wasn't entirely successful at concealing. "It's how people survive."

"And some people do," Apollo responded. "Still, others choose to live instead." Before she could have the chance to process and rebuke his words, Apollo continued. "There was nothing random about what happened to your sister," he told Nabiki, before turning his gaze down to Ranma, "and your fiancée. In the days to come, you will come to understand the meaning of these events you find yourself surrounded by. For now, know only that Olympus has taken a great deal of interest in the matters that surround both the Saotome and the Tendo families."

"What about our guide?" Ranma asked. "We were supposed to meet someone here, but there's nobody."

"Ah," Apollo replied, "That is where you are mistaken, Ranma Saotome. You see, already he stands here in this very room."

Ranma took another glance around the temple, but the place was empty. "No, it really looks like it's just us."

"You look too hard," Apollo smiled. "You miss what rests before your very eyes. A common trait among mortal man, but not one that is entirely absolute."

Ranma was very confused now. Who else was in here? Unless… "You don't mean…."

Nabiki was catching on now too. "You can't mean…"

"Step forward, Tatewaki Kuno."

"HIM?!" Incredulity was pasted across Ranma's face as she looked between Apollo and Kuno. Kuno, to his credit, looked almost as surprised. Stepping forward from the group, he approached the statue of Apollo.

"Tatewaki Kuno," Apollo began. "You have tried to follow the path of the samurai, but your road has been marred by obstacles, not the least of which are your own. You follow the call of love and allow it to guide you, but you have not yet come to understand what love truly means. Further, you are reckless and headstrong. There was a time when you knew what it meant to wield a sword, but your skills have made you complacent. You believe any fight can be won with the judicious amount of force, and your style has changed substantially since the days when you first began taking up kendo. You wield your sword as a mace, with reckless power. But you are not a barbarian, Tatewaki, you are a swordsman. Finesse. Patience. Tranquility. These are the traits that define a great swordsman. The ability to watch your opponent, to see how he moves, and to respond accordingly instead of rushing in with your sword blazing. You knew these once. One day, you may yet know them again."

"However, in spite of your shortcomings, you have shown a potential to become something more. You demonstrated the potential to be a true swordsman when you took on the training on Watermelon Island. You learned then what calm meant to the blade that you wield, but you lost that in favor of more of your reckless and downright dishonorable behavior towards the Pig-Tailed Girl and Akane Tendo."

"Some of your problems can be accredited to your upbringing. There is no one standing in this temple who had what could be considered an ordinary childhood. And there is no one in this temple who does not bear the emotional scars from their past. In fact, I would extend this to most of the people that you know."

"However, others stem largely from your own refusal to understand certain fundamental truths. You live your life in a comforting blanket of lies and falsehoods. This is the trait I find most distasteful about you. But still you are valiant in your own way. Though you fail time and again, you are ready to stand and fight for the Pig-Tailed Girl and for Akane Tendo. No matter how often your body is broken, you refuse to yield when your cause is love."

"This gives me hope for you yet. If you can learn to see the truth behind the falsehoods you surround yourself with, you may one day grow to be the samurai you believe you are. And so that is my gift to you. Do you accept?"

Kuno swallowed hard, taking a moment to consider what Apollo had said. Uncertainly, he looked to the statue, and with a nod of his head, said simply, "I accept."

Instantly, there was a crack of golden energy through the Temple. Kuno found himself lifted suddenly from the ground, suspended three feet in the air by the power of the Olympian. As the energy coursed through his body, a searing pain struck through his eyes. His mouth opened reflexively to scream, but he stifled it, biting his tongue as his mind erupted in a blaze of divine energy. After what seemed like an eternity but was actually only a minute, Kuno fell limp to the ground, breathing heavily and sweating profusely. His keikogi was stained with sweat and his hakama hung loose around him, and he wasn't sure he had the strength to stand just yet.

"You have been given the gift of Apollo's Truesight," the Olympian continued. "May the deceptions and trickeries of the world no longer be concealed from your eyes. From this day forward, Tatewaki, you will see the truth in all things, as we do. This is your gift. May the light of Helios guide you on your road ahead."

With those words, the light faded from the chamber and the doors opened again. Apollo was gone. Ranma and Nabiki had watched the energy flowing through Kuno; it looked incredibly painful. As he wrestled with himself on the ground, Nabiki was the first to approach him. "You okay?"

"I…." Kuno let out a few heavy breaths, then tried again. "I feel…different somehow. I'm not entirely certain what has transpired, but something has changed."

"Need a hand?" Nabiki offered.

"I am…I shall be fine," Kuno insisted, climbing to his feet. His legs nearly buckled, however, and he had to prop himself against a column to take a few breaths before trying again. "That was more intense than I had anticipated."

Scratching her head, Ranma turned towards the door. "Guess we're done here. Come on, we're still scheduled to go wander aimlessly around Akiruno until our feet fall off. Maybe Kuno's new eyes will show us a big neon sign that says "GO HERE" or something."

"I doubt it'll be that easy," Nabiki turned to follow Ranma out.

"Perhaps," Kuno answered, taking a shaky step towards the door. "But we may just be—" He stopped suddenly, staring at the retreating figures. Nabiki, he could see, was clearly fine. But there was something desperately wrong with his Pig-Tailed Girl.

As he watched her, he could see a fiery golden aura blazing around her. A silhouette overlaid against her, an image that he took a few moments to make out. But once it became clear, everything suddenly began to fall into place. It was the image of his nemesis, of Ranma Saotome, that walked with his beloved. Every action she took, he imitated. Every step, he took. Every slight movement of her wrist, he made.

He had long suspected some manner of trickery, but this was something else entirely. This has to be the gift that Apollo had given him, this Truesight that Apollo had spoken of. And after truly considering it for a few moments, everything became suddenly, painfully clear.

This was the evidence that could not be denied. The truth behind the mystery of the Pig-Tailed Girl. This…was the final clue that Ranma Saotome was somehow controlling his love. He had proof now, proof of the dark magicks that cur Saotome was working over her, and as soon as the opportunity presented itself, he would confront the villain with this knowledge, and he would see his love released from his influence, or he would see Saotome destroyed.

Yes. Of course. That had to be the answer. What else could there be?

* * *

The return trip was easier than the trip up. Kuno's Truesight prevented the phantoms of the cave from reaching him, making it a simple walk to the shoreboat for him. Though he remained behind with the women, that he could no longer see the phantoms made it difficult for him to appreciate the threat they still posed. This left Ranma and Nabiki to navigate back down. Ranma had conquered the Cave of Doubts, but Nabiki still had trouble with it.

"Just listen to my voice," Ranma assured her. Covering her eyes so she couldn't be tempted by the phantoms, Ranma walked slowly through the cave. "Follow my voice and you'll…."

"Your voice, Ranma?"

Ranma caught the problem as Nabiki pointed out. "Okay, new plan." Awkwardly, she reached out and took Nabiki by the wrist. "Um…is this okay?" In her experience with women, any unexpected physical contact would often lead to either an extraordinary amount of pain, or to a spontaneous attempt to cuddle Ranma to death typically followed by an extraordinary amount of pain.

"Yeah," Nabiki answered, keeping her eyes closed to block out anything the mists might throw at her. "Just…can we hurry?" She didn't want to linger in this place any longer than necessary.

"Alright," Ranma started forward, pulling Nabiki by the wrist. "If you hear anything before we're out of the cave, just don't listen to it."

As much as she hated being treated like this, she was more afraid of the Cave. She'd find the opportunity to reassert herself in the dominant position when they got back to the Akane, but for now…she just wanted out of the Cave of Doubts.

"How about you, Kuno? You need me to walk you down too?"

Kuno scratched his head, looking around. "The fog seemed thicker the last time we were here. No, I think I shall be fine. There doesn't appear to be anything here."

"There never was to begin with," Ranma affirmed.

* * *

It was four days out from Delphi when Nabiki and Ranma found themselves talking against the railing, where they had argued so many times before. The storm had remained at the island, leaving them a day and a half ago. Nabiki leaned out over the balcony, watching the waters move as Kuno steered the ship back towards Japan. Ranma leaned backwards, facing the other way, her face up at the sky.

There were so many things Nabiki needed to say right now. Thank you for saving my life. You were right. There really was a Delphi, there really is a way to save Akane. Thank you for not giving up on my sister, thank you for not giving up on me. So many words dancing at the edge of her mind, just waiting to be given voice and form. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak.

"So what are you going to do first when we get back to Japan?"

This earned her a sarcastic glare from Ranma. "Two words: hot water. The first thing I want to see is a kettle. I've been a woman for three weeks, and I'm officially over it.

"At least Kuno's off your back," Nabiki pointed out.

"Yeah. Still not sure what's up with that. Every now and then he gets that look like he's about to tackle me, but something stops him. He seems a little uncomfortable when I'm around."

"You think that 'see the truth' thing Apollo did to him might have something to do with it?"

Ranma stopped to consider the possibility. "…y'know, I certainly hope so. Do you know how much strain off my back that would be?"

"Don't get your hopes up," Nabiki said pointedly. "It's still Kuno."

"Yeah," Ranma admitted. "So what about you? What's the first thing you want to do?"

Nabiki stopped to think about that. "First thing I want to do…really, I just want to get to Akiruno. If there's anything that can help us find out who attacked Akane, I need to see it. And…" She stopped to consider a moment. "…there's something else."

"Hmm?" Ranma perked up.

"This thing that was used against Akane, this stuff that turned her blood purple…I think I've seen it before." Turning away from the ocean to look Ranma in the eyes, she cleared her throat. "I think it killed mom."

"That's…." Ranma looked back up to the sky, thinking. "That just raises more questions, don't it?"

"Someone's targeting my family," Nabiki affirmed. "Apollo said this wasn't random, and I believe him. But it's been so long since we lost mom. I just don't understand. If someone's coming after us, why now? Why wait so many years between attacks? There has to be more to it."

"Maybe we'll get lucky," Ranma shrugged. "We'll walk right into Akiruno, and there'll be a big board with all the answers we need on it. Nice and easy."

"You don't really believe that," Nabiki smiled a little.

"No, I don't. But it sure would be nice, wouldn't it? Nice and easy."

* * *

Elsewhere, in the wilderness just west of Akiruno stood what passed for a stadium. The stands were packed to witness an incredible fight between two powerful warriors. They came out three times a week to see the fights, and every one was exciting as the last. They came to cheer for their favorite fighter, for their hero.

An eruption of ki energy filled the stadium, a pillar of destruction that brought the fight to a sudden, swift close. As a single fighter remained standing, the people began to chant his name. "RONIN! RONIN! RONIN! RONIN!" To this, the fighter paid little attention. As he walked slowly back towards the fighters' entrance, the announcer came on the intercom. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you your hero and still reigning champion, the incredible, the undefeatable, the invincible RONIN!!! And what an incredible fight that was!"

"Sure," the fighter muttered to himself. "Just another fight."


	7. Chapter 7: The Good Doctor

**Chapter Seven: The Good Doctor**

After several long weeks at sea since they set out from Yokosuka, the Akane returned to Japan. It wouldn't be staying long, Ranma knew, as they would likely be returning to Delphi once their business in Akiruno was complete. Kuno brought them in at the helm while she stood at the railing, watching the wards of Tokyo grow ever closer and dreaming of the embrace of a hot water kettle that was sure to come.

As soon as they were docked, Ranma was down the boarding ramp with Nabiki not long behind. Dry land was calling and she could feel her body aching for it. "Ranma, hold on a second," Nabiki called after her, holding one of the ship's docking ropes. "We still need to negotiate the Akane's stay here. We need to pay the docking fees, sign the—"

"Oh, Kuno can take care of that!" Ranma blew Nabiki off with a wave of her hand.

"At least let's tie her off first, so she doesn't float back to Delphi. It's been five weeks since you've been a man, Ranma. Ten more minutes won't hurt."

Ranma scowled, but she knew Nabiki was right. Taking the rope from Nabiki, she fastened it securely to the dock. She finished up just as Kuno was coming down the ramp. He took immediate notice of the pig-tailed girl's hard work, and was quick to her side. "Pig-Tailed Girl, you needn't have strained yourself," he uttered, but somewhere his heart wasn't quite in it. Something hadn't been right with him since they left Delphi, and Ranma was still not entirely certain what.

But she knew she could still wrap him around her finger if she needed to. Pressing herself to his chest, her hands delicately placed on his abs, she smiled up at him. "Kuno, darling, you'll take care of all the nasty paperwork, won't you?"

Ranma was surprised when Kuno's hands gripped her by the shoulders and gently pushed her off him. There were sweat beads on his forehead and a general look of discomfort plastered on his face. Kuno felt immediately bad for it, but having her there unnerved him. The shadow of Saotome was still firmly planted in her every motion, and when she had embraced him, so had he. That tender, gentle look in her eyes that she got when she wanted something just looked horrific when mirrored by his nemesis Ranma.

"Kuno?" Ranma asked again.

Clearing his throat, Kuno swallowed his discomfort and tried to speak warmly to his pig-tailed goddess. "My apologies, Pig-Tailed Girl. I will handle the requisite paperwork, and shall accompany you upon its completion."

"Thanks, Kuno!" And with that, she was off, racing down the dock to join Nabiki. Even as she left, some part of Kuno couldn't help but notice the disturbing similarity between the way her body moved as she ran, and Ranma coming in to school every morning. He never would have seen it without Saotome's phantom mirroring her movements. He shook it off quickly and swore Saotome's destruction again to himself.

* * *

One kettle of hot water later, Ranma felt like a brand new man. He'd spent great lengths of time as a woman before but never voluntarily, and never quite that long. Nabiki seemed largely apathetic to it, much to his dismay; she was focused on the task at hand. "So, if we head out now, we can take the train to Akiruno. Kuno'll be busy for a while, I can call him from the station and let him know to stay with the ship a while. With any luck, we'll be in and out and back before we know it."

"Yeah?" Ranma asked. "Does this plan involve me being a guy?"

Nabiki rolled her eyes, stepping out of the small alley where they had changed Ranma back. "I'm happy for your newfound manhood, Ranma, but we need to focus. The Oracle said we'd find three things in Akiruno."

"I found one thing already," Ranma grinned. "And I am never, ever giving—" As if on cue, a delivery person on a bike rolled by, the tires striking a puddle and sending the water up to soak Ranma. As the bicyclist went on, Ranma stood still, a vacant expression of stoic dismay plastered on her face.

One kettle of hot water later, Ranma felt a little bit less like a brand new man, but pretty good nonetheless. Still, he was very careful to watch the roads as they headed for the train station.

* * *

Nabiki called down at the Port, and they'd let her speak to the strange man in the hakama carrying the bokken. Kuno would probably be a couple hours, so they were going to go on ahead, and he'd take the first train to Akiruno once he was done. The plan was to meet at Akikawa Station at 9 PM, giving them a bit of time to look around first. In addition to getting an early start on Akiruno, this would also avoid any unnecessary complications with Ranma, as Nabiki knew well enough that he didn't particularly want to return to his girl form again so soon.

So it was that they made their way to Akiruno, but the plan of "just walk around looking for someone you recognize" didn't work out very well initially. They did, however, hear a lot of talk from the people in town.

"Did you see last night's fight?"

"That Ronin sure is amazing, isn't he?"

"I heard they tried to pay him his winnings and he turned them down."

"Well, I heard he mostly just keeps to himself, despite many offers of company from his fans."

With no luck, they stopped and got lunch at a small corner restaurant with an open exterior. "I guess it was pretty optimistic to just think we'd run into whatever we were supposed to, huh?" Ranma asked.

"Maybe we have," Nabiki pondered. "A lot of people are talking about this Ronin guy. You think he's one of the three we're supposed to meet?" She glanced at a small group of people, just down the road. "You stay here. If the waitress comes by, pay her and we can go. I need to find out something."

"Excuse me," Nabiki approached, her curiosity getting to her. "Who's this Ronin everyone's talking about?"

"You haven't seen?!" A young woman stood shocked at the very question. "Did you see the large monitor down the street?"

"Yeah," Nabiki nodded.

"Head over there in one hour. Ronin's fighting Wrecking Ball today. You have to see it, it's incredible, the way he moves…he's so cool. He's got this totally serious expression that never changes, and when he lets out his final attack…it's like something out of anime."

"Yeah," Nabiki looked back at Ranma, waiting for her at their table. "I guess we'll check it out."

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, WELCOME…to the FIFTH CIRCLE!" The announcer's voice echoed across the arena as the fighters took their positions. The arena itself appeared to be a rugby stadium that had been moved across country to its current location, which Nabiki assumed was very close to Akiruno; the Oracle wouldn't have sent them here unless it was either here or irrelevant to their goal. There was no grass in the arena, however; it seemed to have been covered in hard cement.

Ranma eyeballed the screen carefully; fighting arenas like this were scarce, he'd seen only a few in his travels with his father, and they tended to avoid them. There was something shady about these places; even his father wasn't foolish enough to get involved with them.

"Alright, folks, this is the match you've all been waiting for. He's new, but he's brilliant. Rising to meet every challenge thrown at him, smashing through every adversary with unconscionable force, tearing through every opponent with the strength of a man on a mission, it's WRECKING BALL!" The audience cheered as the fighter stepped out onto the cement, and Ranma recognized him instantly.

Dressed in a tight, black tank top and military camo pants, this was a face that had given Ranma a considerable amount of trouble once. His hair was black and short like Ranma's, but with heavy bangs that stuck out over his face, held only by a single white headband. On his hands were a pair of gloves with a window in the back. The man carried himself proudly, confidently, with a clear amount of arrogance in the smirk that played across his face. When the crowd applauded him, the fighter looked up to the stands, briefly savoring their favor.

"Ryu Kumon," Ranma whispered to Nabiki. Her eyes lit up with surprise; she'd barely met Ryu when he was in Nerima. "He swore he was going to seal up the Yamasen-Ken. He can't still be using it, can he? It would go against his honor."

"If he has any," Nabiki answered. "I guess we'll see."

"And now, the reigning Champion, your hero and mine, everyone give a warm hand for the unstoppable, the unbreakable, the LEGEND himself, RONIN!!!" As soon as he took his first step out into the field, Ranma was taken aback. With black slacks that hung loose around his legs and a yellow sweater covering his torso, and wearing a black and yellow headband that Ranma knew was actually several hidden weapons, there was no mistaking Ryoga Hibiki.

Nor was there mistaking the look on his face, the empty, emotionless face of death that Ranma had seen only a few times in the past. It was the look of the Shi Shi Hokodan in its ultimate form; a face of absolute despair, from which there was no longer any will to live. What had happened to him in the month they'd been away?

"This is the fight you've all been waiting for. The showdown of the century, between the two most talented martial artists ever to enter our arena begins right now. FIGHTERS…BEGIN!"

Ryu stepped forward, studying his opponent. Ryoga stood, silent, emotionless. As Ryu paced around him slowly, Ryoga didn't move. He didn't even turn to follow the motion. "I hope you know," Ryu taunted, "I'm going to be the one walking out of this arena." Ryoga had no response, so Ryu pressed deeper. "I can't lose now. Not when I've come this far. I will have that championship money." Still nothing. The lost boy's silence began to unnerve him; he was losing the mental game already, and they'd just started.

"NOW," he shouted, before leaping forward suddenly and throwing his arms in an outward arc to spread Ryoga's defense, while pushing a powerful kick straight into his stomach, "Mouko Kaimon Ha!"

"He IS still using it," Ranma accused the screen, before Nabiki hushed him.

Ryoga took the hit straight on, his face never wavering. The Mouko Kaimon Ha was only half successful; Ryoga still had control of his arms because he had never tried to block to begin with; now wrapping his left arm around the offending leg embedded in his gut, he made his move, throwing up his leg to get Ryu offbalance, then dropping his right index finger into the cement below them. "Bakusai Tenketsu," he spoke in a near empty voice, and suddenly the ground exploded around them.

The shrapnel hit Ryu's back and legs hard as he fell backwards from the toss, but he recovered quickly, turning the fall into a backwards somersault that brought him back to his feet. His mind reeled at Ryoga's defense; he hadn't dodged, he hadn't even tried to block. He'd taken the blow straight on and turned it into an advantage. People talked about Ronin as though he was carved from iron, but this kind of endurance had been unexpected.

He was immediately brought back to the here and now when he had to block Ryoga's strike, first coming from his right fist, then his left. Ryoga swung with his left leg and Ryu kicked it back with his left leg while using the opening to make an open-palm strike to Ryoga's throat. Ryoga tried to catch the arm, but Ryu had him, turning the parry into one of his own and grabbing Ryoga's defending hand by the wrist, before quickly pulling to the right and kicking out the back of his knee to bring him down.

"Kinshi Kinbakusho!" he ensnared Ryoga's free hand with a golden rope and pulled it in, before kneeing him straight in the face. With both arms in his control and his opponent on his knees, Ryu knew he'd—

--SLAM

Ryoga was back on his feet, smashing his head straight into Ryu's face. With both his arms holding Ryoga's, his guard was wide open. At this proximity, it came down to an endurance match, and he'd already seen how thick Ryoga's was. New tactics were in order; releasing the chain and the arm, Ryu blocked Ryoga's side kick with his left arm and drove his right hand in for an open palm strike straight into Ryoga's chest. "Dokuja Tanketsu Shou!"

He had to be feeling that, as the hand sank deep into his torso. Ryoga's face still never changed, but the sweatdrops beading on his face betrayed the amount of pain he was in. Still, he fought on, landing his left fist in Ryu's face. As Ryu pulled at his wrist, Ryoga's grip wouldn't budge an inch. Ryu kicked him in the stomach to try and pull away, but he wouldn't yield. How long could he hold it there, with his injury? Taking another hit to the face, Ryu knew this couldn't go on. He had to get free. With another open palm strike to Ryoga's throat, he found his chance; Ryoga had to release his hand to pull back away from him. Grasping his chest where Ryu had struck him, his guard was open again. But he was still standing, still fighting, and Ryu was sure he didn't want to get that close to him again. This guy was very strong, stronger than he realized.

His face was swollen where Ryoga had struck him, his stomach ached from the blows it had received, but he could still fight. He was sure he'd broken one of his opponent's ribs in return, but that was hardly enough against the legendary Ronin. With a deep breath, he knew he was going to have to use everything for this. He just couldn't let his enemy in that close again.

"KIJIN RAISHU DAN!" he exploded forward, throwing out his arms hard enough to throw vacuum projectiles straight for his enemy. Ryoga noticed just a moment too late, and was hit full force by the attack, tearing apart his shirt and ripping into his flesh. Ryoga hit the ground hard, breathing heavily, his ribs cracked and his chest and limbs torn up by the attack.

"Ryoga," Ranma worried, eyes locked on the screen. He'd fought Ryu before; he knew how dangerous he could be.

"KIJIN RAISHU DAN!" Ryu threw out another one as Ryoga tried to get back on his feet. The vacuum blades ripped open his back, throwing him against the arena wall, before he collapsed. Struggling, he started back to his feet, and Ryu had to admire the remarkable endurance his opponent demonstrated. But it was over; Ryoga's knees buckled and he fell back down, catching himself with his arms.

"You've lost," Ryu approached, watching him carefully for any sign of movement. "Concede, Ronin. The fight's over." Ryoga's fingers dug into the pavement, and again Ryu had to admire the sheer strength of the man, that he could carve the arena floor open with just the strength of his hands. "The money's mine, Ronin. You're beaten. You lose."

Ryoga gritted his teeth, and for the first time that wasn't a technique, he spoke. "I haven't lost."

"You can't even stand!"

"I don't have to." Ryoga didn't even look up. He didn't move a muscle. He simply spoke three words: "Shi Shi Hokodan."

Both fighters were suddenly enveloped in a pillar of energy fourteen meters across; a massive wave of ki appearing above them. Ryu had just a second to look up, before it came crashing down from above, crushing them both into the arena floor and digging deeper. Ryu hit the floor hard, catching himself with his arms and meeting Ryoga on his knees. The sheer weight of the blow crushed his collarbone, but he was able to weather it. Ryoga, on the other hand, seemed completely unaffected. He merely rose to his feet again.

"Shi Shi Hokodan."

Another heavy blow slammed Ryu down harder, widening the crater they found themselves in. His back strained at the force of the attack. His mind raced, looking for an answer. Get up, get the rope, get away, get to safety, find—

"I don't care about the money. It's meaningless to me. But I will never lose again. Shi Shi Hokodan."

A third and final pillar of energy filled the arena, crushing what strength Ryu had left. His body hit the ground hard, his muscles wrecked and several bones crushed. He barely felt the powdered cement beneath his cheek, the destroyed arena floor, before consciousness abandoned him.

The crowd was in an uproar. Around Ranma and Nabiki, another crowd of spectators cheered the screen. The announcer came back on. "Winner and still champion, the undefeatable RONIN!!!"

* * *

"Nabiki, did you see that?" Ranma was still staring at the screen, even though it had gone dark.

"I saw the fight. Is there something specific on your mind?"

"Ryoga's Ultimate Shi Shi Hokodan was a lot bigger than it usually is." He would know; he'd been crushed under it before.

"That's his despair move, right?" Nabiki never really had a good head for keeping track of the various martial arts that get thrown around Nerima.

"Yeah," Ranma confirmed. "If it's bigger, then that…well, it isn't good."

"Those fools," an older voice could be heard from the parting crowd, one Nabiki remembered from her childhood. "They're going to get themselves killed if they keep this up."

"Hold that thought, Ranma," Nabiki broke away from him and started through the crowd. It couldn't be….

"I know, Doctor," a young, feminine voice followed.

"The crowd cheers while they kill each other, and then I get to pick up the pieces. It's stupid, it's brutal, it's mindless, it--"

"I know, Doctor." As Nabiki moved through the crowd, she first saw a young woman in a long miniskirt, wearing a red jacket over her shoulders. The woman had dark hair swept back into a ponytail that hung halfway down her back.

"You see something?" Ranma asked behind Nabiki, to which she shushed him.

"I just don't see the fascination with…" The man ahead of the woman stopped suddenly, as something had caught his eye in the crowd. He had short brown hair combed down professionally and thick glasses with black rims that covered his eyes. There was a thick stubble over his chin that ran up between his nose and lips that looked as though he hadn't shaved in a few days. He was dressed in dark blue jeans and a white, button-up shirt tucked into his waist, and he suddenly looked very familiar to her. From the look on his face as he stared straight at Nabiki and Ranma.

"Dr. Mikazaki?" Nabiki asked tentatively.

"Kami," the old man whispered quietly, before speaking up. "You wouldn't be one of Kimiko Tendo's little girls, would you?"

"You remember?" Nabiki asked quietly.

The doctor smiled with a warmth Nabiki hadn't seen in anyone in years. "You have your mother's face. It's…excuse me." Removing his glasses, the doctor rubbed his eyes for a second.

His assistant was quick to explain. "Doctor Mikazaki hasn't felt entirely well since…well…."

"Since we lost mom?" Nabiki asked.

The doctor only smiled again. "Your mother was very special to me." Clearing his throat, he placed his glasses back on his face. "But that's in the past. What brings you out to Akiruno? Are you still living in Nerima?"

"Yeah," Nabiki nodded. "I guess you could say we're here on business. Oh!" She finally noticed Ranma, standing very confused beside her, and pushed him forward. "This is Ranma Saotome. His daddy and my daddy decided he was going to marry Akane, so he's staying with us. Ranma, this is Dr. Mikazaki. He was mom's physician before she passed away."

Ranma could see the doctor's eyes light up when he heard Nabiki's introduction. The old man reached one arm forward, clasping Ranma's in his firm grip. "Ranma Saotome, huh?" He sounded just a little impressed, but Ranma admitted that could just be his own pride. What was more surprising was the doctor's strength; his handshake was like a vice. "It's good to meet you. It's a good family you're marrying into. They've got a strong history."

Ranma blushed intensely. "Well, I'm not really—I mean I don't—I mean I—"

To this, the doctor simply clapped him on the shoulder. "Boy, trust me. I know how that goes. When I was your age, I had an I'm Not Really I Don't I Mean I too. I'd like to tell you the important thing is learning to be honest with yourself, but at your age, it's hard to do. You're still growing, still developing into the man you're going to be when you're an adult, and it's hard to know what you'll be like five or ten years from now. I would love to tell you that it all works out and you have your happy ending, but life has ways of introducing curves that sometimes we don't see coming. Sometimes it does work out, and when it does, it can be wonderful. But sometimes it doesn't, and when that happens, all we can do is take the lessons that we learned from it and try to keep them in mind in the future. Either way, we're stronger for it."

Ranma just blushed and looked down at his feet.

"Sorry, I do tend to get carried away. But believe me, Ranma. I was in your shoes over thirty years ago, and I know how good it can feel at the right times. You just need to let it happen."

Ranma smiled just a little, before curiosity came to him. "Did it work out for you?"

At this question, the doctor looked a little sad, and turned his eyes away. There was a moment's silence before he responded. "Like I said, life has ways of introducing curves that we don't see coming." Quickly changing the subject, he turned back to Nabiki. "Do you two have a place to stay? I've got a few guest rooms that nobody's using."

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to that," Nabiki admitted. "But it looks like we might be here a while."

"Come with me, then," the doctor grinned. "It's been too long since I've had company."

"We might have one more. Is that okay?"

"Of course." The doctor gestured to the young woman with him. "This is my personal assistant, Natsumi. If you need anything, she'll be happy to oblige."

As the doctor led the way towards his home, Ranma popped up with a question. "What was that place we saw on the TV? The fighting arena?"

"Yeah," Nabiki joined him. "I heard you talking about it. It sounds like you're not a fan."

The doctor just grunted in frustration. "That is my place of employment these days. I'm paid to tend to the injuries of the fighters at the Fifth Circle. It's a terrible place, run by a shyster named Sennin Mitsuhara. You shouldn't worry too much about it; I don't want good kids like you getting involved with him."

* * *

"This place is incredible," Nabiki eyeballed the doctor's palatial estate with moneybags filling her daydreams. The place made the Tendos' home look downright humble. While not quite as large as the Kuno estate, it became very quickly evident that the good doctor was very well off.

"Come with me," the doctor led the children inside, leaving his shoes at the door. Ranma and Nabiki followed, kicking off their shoes and stepping through the doors. Just inside was another door leading to a courtyard, and at the center of the courtyard sat a water fountain shaped like an hourglass, pouring water over the sides. Ranma couldn't help but notice a little bit of steam rising from it. "Is that heated?" he asked the doctor.

"Good eye," Mikazaki answered, before gesturing to the wooden boards under it. "Remove those and there's a heated pool under it. It feels wonderful during the winter nights, and it's still very relaxing in the summer. Would you like to see for yourself?"

"That'd be great!" Ranma exclaimed. A heated pool…the very concept dazzled him. The idea that he could go for a relaxing swim without turning into a girl thrilled him inside.

"I'll set it up later tonight. Now, if you'll follow me," the doctor led them down the hallway. "Over here are the guest rooms. This is where you'll be staying. Now, I have a bit of work I need to get to. Natsumi's room is just down the hall on the other side of the courtyard. If you're hungry or need anything, just ask her."

* * *

"So what do you think?" Lying on her back on a small bed in one of the guest rooms, Nabiki looked up at the ceiling.

"I think I can't wait to get at that heated pool," Ranma grinned.

"Not about that." Thinking to herself, she pondered what they'd seen today. "The Fifth Circle sounds like it's worth looking into. If it's really as shady as Dr. Mikazaki says, then they could have all sorts of connections going on there. The Oracle said we'd find information here. Maybe this is our shot?"

"Maybe," Ranma admitted, before swallowing. "I've already decided to check it out. If anything, I need to talk to Ryoga."

"You're worried about him?" Nabiki sat up, glancing over to the martial artist, cross-legged on the floor.

"He's my friend. He's in trouble. I can't just walk away from that." His words rang deep in Nabiki's memory, as her mind returned to the Cave of Doubts, as it had many times since they'd left Delphi.

"Ranma…." She wasn't sure how to say this. "…I don't know for sure that he's your friend anymore."

"What do you mean?" Ranma piped, curiously.

"Look, Ranma…the Oracle said we'd find three people here: an old friend, a bitter rival, and a new enemy. Now, we've already run into Dr. Mikazaki; if he's the old friend, then which one is Ryoga?"

Ranma fell quiet. He hadn't considered that. "I don't know," he admitted.

Leaning over, Nabiki placed her hand gently on Ranma's shoulder. "Just…be careful, okay? You two have a shaky enough relationship as it is, and he tends to take things VERY personally. He might not be your friend anymore, if he ever even was to begin with."

An awkward silence filled the room, and after a couple seconds, Nabiki pulled her hand away. Glancing down at her watch, she stood up. "It's getting late. I'll go get Kuno. It's better if he sees me at the station than you."

Ranma let her go without a word. His mind was lost on the problem with Ryoga.

* * *

"Ahhh, now this is nice," Ranma sank deep into the heated pool, letting the water come up to just under his chin. "Very fancy, doc." His clothes lay on the side except for his boxers, which stayed with him in the water. The doctor had dropped his shirt, but was letting his pants soak. Ranma assumed he was simply used to it.

"Glad you like," the doctor chuckled. "Where did Nabiki disappear to?"

"She went to pick up Kuno," Ranma answered. "Man, you don't know how long it's been since I've been able to just relax like this without turning into a—" He stopped suddenly. The doctor was eying him curiously. "—never mind."

With a shrug, Mikazaki looked back up at the sky above them. The sun had gone down and the stars were out in force. "She seems like she's grown up into a fine young woman," the doctor spoke again.

"You just met her," Ranma chuckled. "Trust me, she may seem nice now, but don't turn your back. She's paranoid, selfish, and…" he stopped for a second to think. "I don't know."

"You seem like you're getting along just fine," the doctor pointed out.

"We've got an arrangement," Ranma replied. "Yeah, she's being nice right now, but that's because she has to. She'll be back to scamming people out of every cent they've got just as soon as we're done. Trust me."

"She must have taken her mother's death very hard."

"She…." Ranma fell silent. There was something he'd never really put much thought to. Nabiki was a cold, emotionless, manipulative creature and that's all he'd really thought of her before. Her emotional breakdown on Delphi was something new, something he never thought she was even capable of. And there was that time she'd snapped at him over not revealing himself to his mother.

"It can be very difficult on a child when their parent dies, especially one so young. In my line of work, I've seen it more than I would like to remember. Everyone deals with loss in different ways, but children have it the hardest. Sometimes they simply press on in spite of the loss, refusing to deal with the pain and letting their hurt and their hardship boil up inside, until they're ready to explode at even the slightest provocation. Sometimes they're forced to step up and take responsibilities on themselves that they're not ready for, and they do it with a smile because they feel that it will bring them closer to their loved one. And sometimes they just shut down completely."

"Huh…" Ranma looked up, thinking. "What if they—"

"SAOTOME!!!" A very familiar outrage echoed from the foyer. "I know not what brings you to this house of medicine, Ranma Saotome, but it is good fortune indeed." The samurai stood firm, feet planted on the wooden floor, with bokken in hand. Beside him, Nabiki simply rubbed her forehead and sighed.

"What are you going on about now, Kuno?"

"I have seen the evidence of your twisted machinations on the Pig-Tailed Girl, Saotome. Though you may mask your evil presence, I have witnessed with my own eyes the image of your controls over her mind. The magicks controlling her reek of your presence!"

Pulling himself out of the pool and trying to avoid the eyes of a very confused Dr. Mikazaki, Ranma cracked his knuckles. "Look, Kuno, I don't know what you're babbling about now, but this ain't the time."

"There is no better time to destroy you, vile sorcerer."

"Kuno," Nabiki spoke firmly. "We're guests here. Even Ranma. This isn't how guests behave."

Kuno seemed to take that under consideration. After a few seconds, he returned his bokken to its holder. "Very well. I shall permit you sanctuary, Ranma, so long as you remain under this roof. But know that the moment you set foot in the world outside, you and I shall have our long-awaited duel, and the Pig-Tailed Girl's freedom shall be won."

Stepping out of the water, the doctor approached the newcomer. "I'm Doctor Touya Mikazaki. Nice to meet you."

"I am known by many names," the boy introduced himself. "My name is Tatewaki Kuno. Most know me as the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High." Nabiki groaned at this. "I am honored to accept your hospitality."

The doctor chuckled. "The honor's mine. NATSUMI!"

"Yes, doctor?" The young woman approached from down the hall.

"Please, be a dear and show this young gentleman to his room." He looked back to Kuno. "Perhaps once you're settled in, you'd like to join us?"

"If Saotome is here, then I shall have to decline," Kuno answered. "It is better that I spent less time in his wretched presence."

"Right this way," Natsumi gestured, walking down the hall towards the guest rooms. To this, Kuno simply stood firm, his eyes locked on Saotome, watching him carefully. "Um, sir?" Natsumi came back, but Kuno paid her no mind. "It's just down the hall."

"KUNO." Nabiki spoke firmly, and that seemed to shake him out of his murderous glare. "You know what? You guys just go back to what you were doing. I'll take him to the guest rooms."

* * *

"I honestly don't know what your problem is, Kuno-baby," Nabiki grumbled as she walked Kuno down the hall. "Don't really care, either. Dr. Mikazaki is an old friend of my family. You could try to be civil while you're here."

Kuno sighed. "It was not my intention to create a problem. I saw opportunity when I saw Saotome."

"You always do," Nabiki grumbled.

"Not like this. I have seen the proof with my own eyes, Nabiki Tendo. Apollo's gift has purified my sight. When I see the Pig-Tailed Girl, the shadow of Ranma Saotome stands over her like an eagle, waiting to tear apart its prey. This is the undeniable evidence of his sorcerous manipulations. Do you not see it?"

Nabiki rubbed her forehead. She did not want to deal with this right now. "Look, do whatever, alright? Just don't cause a scene in my friend's house."

"I will respect the hospitality offered," Kuno nodded. "Even if it means sharing a roof with Saotome. But I will be waiting for an opportunity."

"Great. Wait. I don't care."

"I am however curious about your friend, the doctor. What do those markings mean?"

Nabiki sighed. "What are you babbling about now?"

"I speak of the markings upon his chest that run down his arms and face. I have never seen any such writing upon the body of a man, and it doesn't appear to be an actual language, at least not one that's familiar to me."

Nabiki stopped walking suddenly. "…alright, Kuno, I'm listening, but be very careful because you're on thin ice already. One wrong answer and you lose all your points. Now go back and explain it again, from the beginning."

"Do you not see the—"

"No, I don't," Nabiki answered firmly.

Kuno cleared his throat. "When he stepped out of the water to greet us, I could see symbols written on his body. This strange lettering is all over him, from his chest to his arms and even reaching up into his face. It has a golden glow to it, much the same as Saotome's shadow, and there's something…else." Kuno thought for a moment. "I can't explain it, but when I first confronted Saotome, I saw something out the corner of my eye, before he stepped out of the pool. It was as if the symbols on his face were glowing brighter in anticipation of something."

Nabiki rubbed her chin, looking back down the hall. She wasn't sure if she should trust Kuno; he was an idiot. But if he really could see something that the rest of them couldn't…well, that WAS what Apollo was saying he was going to do, wasn't it?

"I'll ask him about it later tonight. Just go get settled in, alright?"

* * *

It was just another fifteen minutes before Nabiki joined the boys in the heated pool. She'd had the foresight to bring along a bikini, since they were going to be spending so much time at sea. Ranma berated himself for not thinking of the same.

"You were right, Ranma. This IS nice." She let out a contented sigh as she rest her head back against the side.

Ranma simply floated near the fountain, letting his arms steady him in the water. "I want something like this someday. It's perfect."

"Isn't it just?" the doctor laughed. "It was just an idea I had when I first bought this house. Architect looked at me like I'd gone nuts, but I just had to have a big, heated pool in the courtyard."

"Sorry about Kuno," Nabiki offered the good doctor. "He's suffering from a terrible medical condition. You've probably heard of it. Chronic stupidity?"

The doctor smiled. "It's fine. I'm more worried about the two of you. You told me you were here on business, but you still seem so young. What kind of business could you possibly be seeking?"

"It's complicated," Nabiki answered quickly. This only earned the doctor's skeptical eye.

"You're not here to join the Fifth Circle, are you?"

"No!" Nabiki answered hastily. "No, no no no…well, sorta."

The doctor let out a long sigh. "I was afraid of this."

"It's not what you think," Ranma offered helpfully. "That guy, Ronin. He's actually a friend of ours, and we're worried about him. I want to try and talk to him. See if I can knock some sense into him."

"Hmm…" the doctor considered. "While not a bad reason, you should still be very careful, Ranma. Sennin is a terrible man. He will do everything in his power to keep you if you let him get his hands on you."

"I'm not afraid of him!" Ranma insisted.

"You should be. He wields a terrible power."

"Speaking of," Nabiki interjected. "Kuno mentioned something to me earlier." Her eyes narrowed as she locked her gaze on the doctor, as though trying to see something that wasn't there. "He said there are markings all over your body. Now, maybe he's just deluded. It IS Kuno. But it got me wondering."

The doctor was taken aback by this. "Is that what he told you?" He looked up for a few moments, thinking. "That's…actually rather impressive of him." Looking back down at Nabiki and Ranma, the doctor nodded his head. "He must have seen my Herbal Marks. They're invisible to the naked eye. It's something I picked up years ago, when I was touring Japan. I ran into a small village in the Hokkaido region that uses herbal medicines in mystical practices. Their healers were supposed to be miracle workers, and they offered to show me. To this day, I'm not sure if they actually do anything, but my medical practice has really taken off since then. But how did he notice, I wonder?"

"Good question," Nabiki looked away nervously. She had her answer, at least. "I'll ask him later," she lied.

Ranma stretched and let out a yawn. "It's getting late, and I want to check out that arena tomorrow."

"Yes," the doctor agreed. "We should turn in for the night. This pool will still be here tomorrow, after all."

Ranma grinned. "I really want one of these back home."

"Get some rest," Mikazaki told him. "If things go well, you'll have a hard day tomorrow. If they don't…much harder. Good luck with Sennin."

"Thanks," Ranma smiled. "What about you, Nabiki?"

"I think I'm just going to soak a bit longer," the mercenary responded. "Good night, Ranma."

"Night."

As the boy walked away down the hall, towards his room, Nabiki closed her eyes and sank down into the hot water. "Good luck," she whispered, where no one could hear.


End file.
